Final Life
by Ace-Garnet
Summary: Part Two of We'll Always Return to You Series. Erik's been reincarnated and Christine and Raoul plan to make sure it's the last. They watch Erik grow from a child into a man and when Christine and Raoul discover that they can take on a solid form, they decide to use it to try to be with Erik the way they were meant to be. PolyRel. AceErik. ModernAU. ReincarnationAU. MasklessErik.
1. Retelling of Old Tales

**And I'm back with part two. This is the last part so when this is over, it's over.** **This is going to be a lot less depressing, well, I think so. Super excited about this so I hope to hear your thoughts through out! Enjoy!**

Retelling of Old Tales

"Do you think it's bad for me to feel glad that they died before they could get married?" Raoul asked Christine as they entered purgatory once more.

Christine glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "If it is, then I'm guilty of it too."

"It is sort of bad." Castiel stated appearing out of nowhere, startling Christine. "However, it also means process is being made. Your emotions towards you third are growing stronger."

"Yes, because envy is such a great thing to feel." Raoul remarked with a scowl.

Christine sent him a grin. "You were jealous?! I'll say that shows great progress!"

A scowl was sent her way, but she just grinned back. Christine has long since acknowledged her growing feelings for Erik as time went by. After his life that had ended in suicide, she was grateful that something useful ended up coming out of it. Raoul was beginning to accept Erik as their third, and was admitting to the fact that he had been jealous of Antoinette! She had also been jealous of the woman for being completely loved by Erik, it had brought back memories of Erik's devotion to her in their first lives. His love had been twisted because of his past, but to see it as it could be expressed was beautiful.

However, it hurt Christine to know that it had not been for her but instead another who was not Erik's soulmate.

Erik was _theirs_.

"Watching your beloved love another is painful isn't it?" Castiel remarked almost causally and Christine squinted at the angel.

"Wait…was that a set up?!" she accused.

Castiel shrugged. "It was a punishment for having brought Erik to us sooner than he was supposed to the last time. Erik and Antoinette were never meant to meet in that life, but my superiors saw the chance and used it to teach you two a lesson."

"That's…" Raoul gapped. "Harsh!"

Castiel shrugged again. "Now you know how Erik felt when he had to watch the two of you be together, yet you should be grateful."

"Why would we be grateful? That was a form of torture!" Raoul demanded.

Castiel leveled her eyes at the two of them firmly. "At least the two of you never had to go through the feeling of hope but then be rejected. To be completely in love with someone only to have them turn away from you in disgust and run to another. Whatever the two of you felt while watching your third be with another was nothing in compare to what he had to go through because of your actions in your first life."

Christine turned away in shame, knowing the angel was right. They had been jealous but did not have any grounds to be. Sure, the three of them were soulmates, but Erik has never seen them in that last life and as he had gotten older, he had stopped hearing them. They did not have a visible place in his life like Antoinette and her father did, who were able to express their love for him easier than Christine could.

Christine and Raoul were stuck watching over Erik, but that did not mean Erik had such chains. He was free to live and love whomever entered his life, Christine should be glad that Erik could feel such happy emotions, even if they were not towards her and Raoul.

"We understand." Christine whispered, gaining Castiel's attention.

Those intense blue eyes narrowed on her and there was a slight tilt of her head.

"Yes…I imagine you do." She declared thoughtfully.

The three of them stood in purgatory for a few moments in silence. Suddenly, Castiel blinked and straightened.

"Erik has been reborn." She informed them. "This life will be longer than the others, I suggest you put all your efforts in completing the mission in this one."

Before Christine or Raoul could say anything, they blinked and were abruptly back on earth.

 **1987-1997 – New York City**

"Huh, so this is the infamous America." Raoul stated as the couple landed in a hospital room where a screaming woman was giving birth behind them. "It's a lot grayer than I pictured it."

"We're in one city Raoul. I doubt the entire country looks like this." Christine countered with a roll of her eyes.

"Meh, I'm not impressed." Raoul replied, but Christine noticed that he did not turn away from looking out the window.

Christine shook her head fondly but a horror filled scream pierced the air. Christine rolled her eyes again.

Could Erik not have one mother who did not hate him on sight? Apparently not.

"What the hell is that?!" she heard Raoul whispered in disbelief.

She went back to where Raoul was standing at the window and he pointed at something hanging from one of the buildings. Christine saw that it was a sign and cocked her head to the side as she read it.

"'The Phantom of the Opera?'" Christine read out with a frown, looking at the picture of a white mask with a single red rose next to it. "'On Broadway.' What's wrong? It's an ad for a musical."

Raoul shook his head and scowled. "I don't know, but for some reason, I have a feeling it is not _just_ a musical."

"I think you're reading too much into it. Come. We have to focus on Erik." Christine persuaded, hooking her hand in Raoul's elbow and pulled him away from the window.

Erik's first few years consisted of him being shortly abandoned at an orphanage by his mother and his father was never in the picture. Luckily, the people in charge of the orphanage was able to put Erik in a foster home, and the middle-aged couple were very caring towards the deformed child. Christine was happy about that and she knew that Raoul was pleased to. Erik grew up more carefree and playful since he was not constantly told that he was hated because of his appearance.

When Erik was three, another boy showed up and Christine was shocked to find out that it was Nadir! The boy was seven years older than Erik but the toddler latched himself onto the older and Nadir accepted his new role as big brother almost immediately. Two years later when Erik was five Antoinette showed up, she was three years older than Erik. The three of them grew up together and became a misshapen family. Nadir would watch over the younger two but was also their friend. He would claim that when he got older he would become a cop. Antoinette wanted to be a dancer and Erik would say that he did not know what he wanted, but it will be something that involved music.

That came as no surprise. As soon as the foster parents realized that Antoinette enjoyed dancing and Erik liked music, the couple signed both of them up for classes, both of them did extremely well over the years. Erik learned to harness his voice to acquire many skills and learned to play the violin and piano.

He was writing his own music before the age of ten.

Because of his love for music, the foster parents got him involved in musicals, to which Erik soaked up eagerly. For Erik's tenth birthday they treated Erik to a special occasion.

They took the whole family to see the musical sensation that has the highlight of Broadway for the past decade.

The Phantom of the Opera.

Erik was ecstatic to find out that he will get to see the highly praised musical. The parents refused to tell him what the musical was about, as a result, neither Christine nor Raoul knew as well. They only told him that it's based on a book that was published in the early 20th century. When Raoul had heard that they were going to see it he got ansty.

"I don't know why, but I …don't like this." Raoul told her when she asked.

The night the family went to the musical, Erik and Antoinette were beaming in excitement, whispering to each other eagerly while Nadir walked behind them with an entertained grin as he watched the younger two.

They were not in the front, but they were close enough that they had a great view of the whole stage. Raoul and Christine watched from behind the seats since they found it too strange to be next to Erik when he was surrounded by other people, making the two of them stand through other people.

The lights dimmed and the show began.

Christine watched the first scene curiously. It has been a long time since she had been able to watch a musical. She found the overture a powerful piece, watching in awe as a chandelier rose into the air from the stage and stop above the audience in the front.

If this was what the whole musical was going to be like, she knew that it was going to be wonderful.

But then, the people on stage began calling out each other's names.

Frowning, Christine watched as the 'diva' was named Carlotta and one of the men called one of the actresses Mme. Giry. A group of girls came on stage and did a ballet piece.

"Christine Daae concentrate!" the woman named Mme. Giry called out to one of the girls.

Christine froze in shock.

"What the…" she heard Raoul whisper next to her.

The musical continued and Christine watched in disbelief as the story progressed. Seeing 'Christine' be called out by the managers then sing and do her performance. Then 'Raoul' showed up and then there was the mirror scene.

A deep voice echoed through the theatre and then the 'Phantom' shows up and takes 'Christine' through a mirror. While the voice of the 'Phantom' was good, it had nothing on Erik's voice. The title song came and if Christine was not half in shock, she would be impressed by the stage effects for the scene.

The Phantom's song was impressive and seductive, the 'Christine' looking positively hypnotized on stage, until she fainted at the sight of the bride mannequin.

Scene after scene Christine watched the musical, not being able to appreciate it because she remained in amazement the whole time. Raoul was standing beside her quiet and she would not be surprise if he was in a state of shock as well.

Then the rooftop scene happened and Christine gasped at 'Christine' and 'Raoul' as they confessed their love to one another and then it showed the 'Phantom' on top of one of the angel's. The chandelier crashed onto the stage soon after then the lights turned back on to signal intermission.

Christine blinked as everyone around began standing up to stretch their legs. Quickly, she turned to Raoul who was gapping.

"What was that?" she questioned frantically.

Raoul blinked.

"There's a musical about our lives…" Raoul whispered in disbelief.

"It wasn't completely accurate." Christine tried, knowing that she sounded partly hysterical.

Raoul snorted. "They got the general idea right. I can't believe this is happening."

Raoul placed his hands to his temples and Christine turned back to find where Erik and his family went. Not seeing them, she grabbed Raoul's arm and pulled him with her as they made their way through the crowd. Christine eventually spotted Erik at one of the souvenir stands where he was begging the foster parents to buy him the CD. The foster father agreed and paid for the CD, handing it to an eager Erik who clutched the CD to his chest.

"Of course Erik likes it." Raoul groaned upon seeing the family.

"Well, you can't blame him. He doesn't know what we do. You have to admit, the music is very well done." Christine stated then avoided Raoul's eyes when he sent her a scowl.

"Great. You like it too. That's just perfect." Raoul grumbled and walked away from her.

Christine sighed. She went back into the theatre when everyone began making their way back in. Raoul was already inside and she went to him.

"I'll admit that I like the music." Christine confessed. "However, the story I'm not all too happy about. Our story with Erik did not end happily, I'm not looking forward to whether or not this musical will end the same."

Raoul nodded and the lights of the auditorium went back down.

Together they watch the opening scene and Christine was surprise to see it as a masquerade, where the 'Phantom' later showed himself and was dress as Red Death. Christine shuddered at the sight. It had not been a pleasant memory in her life. The musical continued, not everything was like what had happened in reality but it was close enough that when the final scene came and the 'Phantom' let them go, Christine's eyes were pooling with tears.

However, unlike her life, 'Christine' came back on stage by herself and for a brief moment Christine wondered if there was to be a happy ending for the 'Phantom,' but instead she had only returned to give him back his ring.

"Christine, I love you." The 'Phantom' pleaded with a musical note, drawing the sentence out.

Christine gasped brokenly and the tears that had blurred her vision streamed down her cheeks. She felt Raoul wrapped his arm around her, but for once it did not comfort her. She watched as the heartbroken 'Phantom' kneeled on stage and in the background she saw 'Christine' and 'Raoul' escaping. As the 'Phantom' sang the last line of the musical, Christine continued to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks one after another. All the memories of their first life came to her and she was reminded how much the Erik in that life had loved her. He had been insane but he worshipped her and she had left him because she was scared and disgusted by him.

The memory of Castiel telling her that if they had stayed, Erik would have gotten better did not help.

Christine deserved the punishment heaven had given to her. She deserved every second of it.

The clapping of the audience broke her out of her guilt. She looked up and saw everyone standing, clapping enthusiastically with nearly everyone in sight having tear marks on their cheeks. The actors and actresses slowly came on stage, the sound of cheers getting louder as the more important roles came out. 'Raoul' came out and the crowd cheered loudly, 'Christine' came out and the cheers got louder still. However, when 'Phantom,' cleaned up with his mask back on, walked out the crowd roared with applause. Together, the cast took each other's hands and bowed. The curtain closed on them and the clapping faded out.

Everyone began making their way out and she spotted Erik and the family. All of them had tear marks on their cheeks but Erik was smiling the widest smile Christine has ever seen.

"That was amazing! It's my favorite!" Erik exclaimed excitedly as they made their way out.

When they got to the street, Erik grabbed Antoinette's hands and began pulling her. Antoinette laughed and let him.

" _Sing once again with me, our strange duet! My power over you, grows stronger yet_!" Erik began singing playfully to Antoinette. " _And though you turn from me, to glance behind. The phantom of the opera is there! Inside your mind_!"

"That's your favorite song then?" Nadir asked with a grin.

"Oh, I can't choose! They were all great! Especially the Phantom's! He had all the best lines and lyrics!" Erik replied admirably.

"Well I guess we know who your favorite character was." Antoinette stated with a grin. "Happy Birthday, Erik!"

"Best birthday ever!" Erik declared with a beaming smile.

 **Yay! We've started! There is a reason why I brought the POTO into this, you'll find out later! ;) Hoped everyone liked it and be sure to leave a review! They are much appreciated and keep me writing! Next chapter will be in Christine's POV. See ya next time.**


	2. Growing Up

**There's a reason I'm splitting this life childhood longer, more detail. Plus! We all know what happens in 2004 ;)**

Growing Up

 **1997-2004 – New York City**

The first few months after Erik's tenth birthday and first performance of Phantom of the Opera, Christine would swear on anything that Erik listened to the musical's CD at least once every day since. It became his favorite topic and he could be heard constantly humming one of the songs. The preteen became so involved with it that everyone else in the house had all the songs memorized, just from hearing their youngest member sing it.

"Antoinette be my Christine would you." Erik had asked his friend one night when Nadir, Antoinette, and Erik were in Nadir's room. The younger two came to the older more often since Nadir was seventeen and only had his last year of high school before he was leaving to become a cop. Erik and Antoinette were sitting cross-legged on the bed facing each other while Nadir sat at his desk, doing homework.

Antoinette raised her eyebrow. "Are you going to be my Raoul or the Phantom?" she asked playfully, already knowing the answer.

It got the reaction she wanted when Erik squinted his eyes at her.

"Why on earth would I be Raoul? His part is no fun."

Christine turned her head to Raoul and saw him in the corner of the room attempting to slam his head on the wall, but his head kept passing through.

"Come on, Raoul. Lighten up." Christine told him with an amused grin.

He sent her a glare.

"You try being the person who is considered a spoiled jerk in the musical."

"Hey! At least you're not hated for being the one who chose you over the 'phantom!' People _hate_ me!" she protested.

Raoul shrugged, appearing sheepish. "Okay, you got me there."

"You know, you should go into acting." Nadir stated from his spot at the desk. He spun his chair around and looked at Erik. "I'm sure they'll instantly put you as the phantom. They surely would never have to waste time putting you in makeup."

"Hey!" Erik complained and Antoinette giggled behind him. "You can be Raoul then. Just let me go get a piece a rope. Have to make it real for dramatic effect."

Nadir rolled his eyes and stood from his chair. He went to the bed and fell on top of it, making Erik and Antoinette bounce next to him.

"Like hell, I'll ever play Raoul. We both know that Antoinette would never pick me over you. Therefore, you're more like Raoul in this case."

"Please make it stop." Raoul groaned next to Christine, covering his ears.

Christine raised her eyebrow at him, though Nadir's words stung a little. She _had_ picked Raoul over Erik in their first life. Not that she regretted loving Raoul and her life with him, but it hurt that even in the fantasy of a musical, the 'phantom' could not be happy because of her.

Erik grinned. "Got that right. I'm Antoinette's favorite."

Nadir huffed and used his leg to knock Erik off his bed. Erik let out a yelp as he crashed onto the floor. Nadir and Antoinette laughed as Erik sat up, rubbing his head.

"I hate you." Erik grumbled.

"No you don't." Nadir snickered in response.

Erik slowly got over his excitement on Phantom of the Opera. He continued to see it as his favorite musical and would request to see it again as his birthday present every year but that eventually became the only time he mentioned it. Instead he grew to focus on his own music. He played the violin and piano almost every free minute he had from school things and practiced how to manipulate his voice for his own sake at being better. Christine could not believe how many drafts of music Erik had tossed aside through the years.

Time went on and Nadir graduated from high school and joined the police academy. He graduated that with high remarks and left the foster house, but he visited the family often enough that it was like he had not left at all.

When Erik was thirteen, he asked Antoinette if she would be willing to take his first kiss away. She had laughed fondly but instead of replying, she pressed her lips against his for a few seconds.

Christine and Raoul were not happy to watch that scene but they knew that Erik and Antoinette would not end up together again like they did in their last life. Castiel had reassured them of that.

Antoinette pulled back with a grin.

"There you go! You've had your first kiss." Antoinette declared fondly. "What did you think?"

"Ah…I don't know?" Erik answered with a light blush. "Strange I guess."

"I would be insulted but, you were always kind of different Erik." Antoinette replied.

Erik frowned. "Is that bad?"

"Of course not! Normal is boring!" Antoinette hurried to say and they left it at that.

The next year, Erik was fourteen when he decided that he should try something else. This time, he asked Nadir when the young cop was spending the night with them.

Nadir was not as easy to persuade as Antoinette.

"Why can't you ask another boy? You know, someone who's actually your age?!" Nadir argued. He was sitting on the end of the bed in his old room while Erik stood a few feet in front of him.

Erik stared at him like he was an idiot. "Really? You expect me to be able to ask a random person with my face? If I don't get automatically rejected from being a boy, I would definitely get rejected because of my face."

"Have you tried girls yet?" Nadir questioned.

"Yes, and it was rather uninteresting. The next logical step is to try boys."

"Oh, of course! Very logical!" Nadir countered sarcastically.

Erik just stared at him and Nadir sighed after a second and ran his hand over his face.

"I'm twenty-one Erik and you're fourteen! You being a minor is bad enough, but I'm also a cop."

"What are you going to do if you kiss me? Arrest yourself?" Erik scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "No one's going to find out, we're the only ones here."

"You are so not." Raoul grumbled next to Christine. "I swear, if they do this, it'll forever be burned into my brain."

"So don't look." Christine offered and grinned when Raoul sent her a scowl.

"Oh, don't act like you're okay with this. I know you're not." He told her.

They stared at each other for a few moments, Christine was the one to look away. She could not deny that Raoul was right.

"Please, Nadir." Erik widened his eyes and pouted for good measure.

Nadir and Erik stared at each other, both keeping the same expression. Nadir was the first to break and he let out an exasperated sigh.

"I hate you so much." Nadir growled, but it was obvious that he had given in.

Erik noticed this as well and perked up. "No you don't!" he replied cheerfully.

"If I'm doing this, you're shutting up." Nadir commanded.

Erik did as he was told and stared expectantly at Nadir as he waited. It took a minute for Nadir to work up enough nerve, but when he did, he quickly grabbed Erik's hand and used it to pull the younger to him. As he did, Nadir tilted his head up and brought Erik's head down causing their lips to meet.

"Yeah, okay. I can't watch this." Raoul declared and walked out of the room.

Christine wanted to go after him but figured one of them should remain at Erik's side. Though, she looked away from the scene in front of her. It had been bad enough to watch Erik kiss Antoinette but Nadir too? This sucked. She heard the sound of them pulling away and only then did she turned back around.

"There. How was that?" Nadir asked once he broke the kiss.

Erik hummed and licked his lips. He cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "Nothing."

Nadir nodded and pushed Erik back gently for him to stand. "Might be because we're not like that Erik, but who knows? All I know is that I never want to do that again. With you or any other guy."

Nadir shuddered and Erik grinned.

"Thank you Nadir." Erik stated pleasantly.

Nadir snorted but shook his head with fondness. "Yeah, yeah."

After that, Erik seemed to have forgotten anything to do with those kinds of relationships. Instead, he focused on school and his music. When Erik was fifteen, Antoinette graduated high school and got accepted into a dance academy within the city.

"They teach acting too. Who knows? Maybe I'll be on Broadway someday." Antoinette told Erik on the night before she was to leave.

Erik was sleeping in her room and the two laid on her bed facing each other.

"If anyone can, it'll be you." Erik asserted firmly. He sighed. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll come visit! You won't notice I'm gone. It's not like I'm out of the state, or even the city." Antoinette comforted. "In a few more years, you're going to be out of here as well. Then, you'll be too busy with your own life for little old me and Nadir. Just you wait."

Erik frowned. "That's not what I want."

"Kidding, Erik. We'll be around. Both me and Nadir. Don't worry about it."

During Erik's senior year in high school Erik made a discovery.

"Antoinette!" Erik called out as he rushed into her room at the apartment she was renting out.

"What!" Antoinette asked dramatically, taking on the hurried tone Erik had used. She was writing in her journal at her desk but stopped when Erik came in.

"I think I know what I am now!" Erik replied, purposing ignoring her tone. He held out his phone and Antoinette took it from him. She read it with a frown and then looked up at him.

"Asexual, a person who has no sexual feelings or desires. You think you're asexual?"

Erik nodded and sat on the floor cross-legged next to her chair.

"I've done a lot of reading and it sounds a lot like how I feel. You know I don't have the same interests in people as most do. I thought it might have been because I was only a late bloomer, or something was wrong with me, but I'm not! There are others like me! Enough that there's a specific name for it!" Erik gushed excitedly, looking up at Antoinette from the floor.

"But…"Antoinette bite her lip. "Does this mean, you never want to get married? Have kids?"

Erik blinked then appeared thoughtful.

"To be honest, not really. Maybe I'll meet someone someday who would be okay with me but I find that highly unlikely. Kids, well, you know that I plan on running a daycare when I graduate, as for my own…I can't say yes or no to that yet, but there's always adoption. I mean, look at the two of us. We turned out great, I think!"

Antoinette smiled. "I think so too. Okay, Erik. I'm happy for you. It must be relieving to know."

"You have no idea!" Erik deadpanned, taking his phone away.

"Soo, when we are finally together, he won't want to do any of that stuff?" Raoul contemplated.

Christine shrugged. "To be honest, I think he was always like that. Even in our first life."

Raoul raised one of his eyebrows. "Really? First life too?"

Christine nodded. "He wanted to get married, but he never made any sort of move towards anything physical. When I had kissed him, he had basically gone into shock. His next life, I thought he and Antoinette would end up together but they didn't and he showed no signs of desire towards anyone. The next one, he died too young for us to know but after that, again, no interest of that kind. Even the last one, he was with Antoinette but he had admitted to not having desires and she accepted that."

Raoul considered that for a moment then shrugged. "Yeah, okay. I see your point."

"Oh!" Antoinette straightened suddenly. "I just remembered! Stay here, I'll be right back."

Antoinette left the room and Erik waited, remaining on the floor. A few moments later she came back and presented Erik with her own phone with an excited grin. Erik took the phone and looked at the screen. His eyes widened and he stumbled to his feet.

"You're coming with me! We have to see it!" Erik exclaimed eagerly. "Nadir's coming too. We'll kidnap him if we have too!"

"Of course!" Antoinette replied with the same eagerness.

Christine was able to make out the screen enough to see what it displayed. She took a sharp intake of air through her mouth.

"They made that damn musical into a movie!" Raoul groaned in dismay.

Christine could not help but laugh at his reaction.

The movie, The Phantom of the Opera, came out and Erik, Antoinette, and Nadir went to see it. Christine and Raoul sat on the rails to watch the film. The movie had some differences then the musical, some allowed more development with the story, and others were strange and uncalled for.

Christine found the 'Christine' impressive. She needed more training but her skill was good for her age.

The 'Raoul' was handsome and his voice pleasant but Christine did not like how his tone sounded condescending sometimes towards 'Christine's' belief in the 'Phantom.' Raoul had not believed her either, but he had not made her believe that she sounded crazy.

She thought that the 'Phantom' was decent enough. He brought on a more romantic side of the story that got people to sympathize with the character more.

In the final scene, Christine's eyes teared up and then trailed down her cheeks at the 'Phantom's' now famous line of _Christine, I love you_.

She did not think she'll ever be able to get over that part.

The movie ended and Christine wiped her face. She looked at Raoul and saw that his eyes were misty.

"Finally get to you?" she teased.

Raoul blinked then sighed. "Maybe a little. It stinks being the bad guy in a love story."

"Technically, you're not the bad guy, the Phantom is." Christine countered.

Raoul snorted. "Tell that to all the fans who wish you had ended up with Erik."

"Well…" Christine started lightly, turning her head to look at the credits. "I have to admit that if Erik had done something similar in our life like the Music of the Night scene, I'm sorry, but I would have totally chosen him over you."

Christine laughed as Raoul pushed her off the rail.

 **There we go! Hope everyone enjoyed it. Please leave a review sharing your thoughts about the chapter.** **Next chapter will be Christine's POV again. See ya next time!**


	3. Wedding Bells Are Ringing

**Just wanted to thank the reviews I received from Guests. I would've replied directly to them but as a Guest I couldn't do that. But they were both lovely and made me smile.**

 **On with the story!**

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

 **2004 - 2010 – New York City**

Over the next few years Erik's life was extremely busy. He entered college to get his associate in early-child development and music. He moved in with Antoinette to be closer to his school, and spent his time focused on his studies. He also volunteered at a daycare center to build up his experience. He was determined to be able to open his own as soon as he got his degree.

Antoinette started dating a man by the name of Daniel and within a year they were married. Daniel had a large family and most of the guest list were his people. Antoinette only invited a few of her closest friends to be her bridesmaids and her family. Their foster dad had teared up when Antoinette had asked him if he would walk her down the aisle, eagerly accepting. Erik appeared uncomfortable in his suit the day of the wedding which Christine found hilarious considering that it was his only attire in their first life. He played a major role in the wedding however, so Antoinette did not let up on his tux. He played the music for the ceremony. Antoinette was a beautiful bride and looked overjoyed on her wedding day. When the bride and groom dance came in the reception, Erik was the one sitting at the piano bench, once more playing the music.

Christine had to admit that she teared up as she watched the couple dance alone on the floor. The twin smiles they wore were beautiful and filled with love.

"Kind of reminds you of our wedding." Raoul remarked next to her. "To me you'll always be the most beautiful bride I have ever seen."

Christine let a soft grin curl on her lips. "That's because I was your bride, but yes, it does bring back those memories."

The bride and groom then danced with each of their family members. Antoinette danced with both foster parents then danced with Nadir. Erik playing the music to it all. When it was Erik's turn, Antoinette pulled him away from the piano bench and one of Daniel's friends who knew how to play took over. Christine watch the foster siblings slowly glide across the dance floor. Both of them dancing gracefully with fond grin on both their lips that Christine could not take her eyes off of them. When it was over, Erik spun Antoinette and she stopped only when Daniel caught her, ending the family dances.

Christine and Raoul moved to the dance floor when the party put on a slow dance for the couples. The two held each other in their arms and shared a smile.

"Christine, I love you." Raoul whispered to her gently. "So much."

"I know." She replied with a soft smile. "I love you too."

The following years had joy and tragedy. Antoinette gave birth to her daughter and the child was named Meg. Nadir also finally worked up the nerve to propose to his girlfriend of three years. However, Erik's foster mother died of a heart attack that year. Luckily, it had been while she was asleep so she did not feel any pain. The foster father was devastated but the birth of Meg helped him through the tough times. He was a pampering grandfather.

Time went by, Erik graduated from college and was able to get permission granted to open a daycare. Nadir and Antoinette helped him start it up and promote it. New York City was an awfully populated city with a bunch of busy parents. Erik found business in no time. During the days, he would spend with the toddlers and in the late afternoons and evenings, he had sessions with older children whose parents wanted them to learn music. Erik's center consisted of two rooms. The large one was for his daycare and the smaller, but still decent size space, was for his lessons. He offered his students the choice of him teaching them the violin, piano and singing. Mondays and Wednesdays were for his violin students. Tuesdays and Fridays were for his piano students and Thursdays and Saturday mornings were for his singers.

Christine was not surprised at all by the fact that Erik was a wonderful teacher. He was strict but fair, just like he was with her. Since he was dealing with children, he went out of his way of trying to find ways to make the lessons fun for his students, especially the ones who started out going to his lessons because it was their parents idea. His students learned to adore him and his children from the daycare felt the same way.

Sometimes, parents were hesitant at leaving their children with a man who had an appearance like Erik, there were a few times that the child was scared by him. However, Erik would expertly sell himself by telling the parents about his credentials and give them contact information of parents of his other children who had agreed to be his promoters. If a child was scared of him, he would eventually win them over. Most of the time quite easily. He just had a way of calming a stressed child down and if that did not work, he would resort to singing.

That always made the scared children curious enough to get closer to him.

There had been one particularly shy girl, who was one of the difficult ones. Her parents had already decided that she was to spend her days with Erik, but when she had been dropped off, she had screamed at the sight of Erik and ran outside where the playground was.

"I am so sorry!" The frantic mom apologized. "I'll get her right away!"

Erik laughed in reply. "Don't worry, it happens more than you think. Go to work. She'll be fine, I promise."

The mom had hesitated but Erik was able to convince her to leave. Luckily, the girl was the first to arrive for the day, therefore, Erik did not have to worry about leaving any children unattended. Christine knew that Erik did it on purpose. The first time he was to meet a child, Erik always had the parent's show up earlier then when the daycare opened. She knew that he did this specifically in case something like the girl's reaction happened.

Erik made his way outside and spotted the girl on the playground. Her head peeked out from the top of the slide. With a grin, Erik made his way over to the slide and sat down on the bottom of the slide. He was not facing her head on, but he was turned so that she would still see part of his face.

"Your name. It's Rosaleen correct?" Erik asked gently.

The girl did not say anything, but she did give the tiniest nods.

"Did you know that Rosaleen means 'little rose? Or that a rose is considered one of the most beautiful flowers?" Erik shot the girl a side glance then looked away again. "Your parents have certainly named you well."

Christine saw the girl, Rosaleen, blush but she did not make any move towards Erik, though her head peeked further out from the top of the side.

"As you can see, that the same cannot be said about me." Erik remarked almost causally, messing with the end of his shirt. "Have you seen Beauty and the Beast, Rosaleen?"

Rosaleen's eyes lit up and Erik nodded. "I thought so. Now, what were your thoughts on the Beast's appearance?"

Again, Rosaleen did not answer but she did bite her lip, acknowledging that Erik's point was getting through to her.

"Sadly, I cannot turn into a handsome prince because of love." Erik admitted. Suddenly, he pulled his hand away from his sleeve and a small red rose was in his hand.

"When the heck did he pick that up? Did you see him get that?" Raoul stated in disbelief.

Christine shrugged. She had stopped trying to figure out Erik's tricks a long time ago. He was just too good at them.

"How about this then," Erik began, twirling the rose between his fingers. "I have this rose here and its special to me. Very much like the rose in the story. Roses live short lives but I would like for you to take care of it for me. Care to be the Belle to my Beast, Rosaleen?"

Rosaleen stared at the rose that Erik was offering to her. She appeared to want to take Erik up on his offer but was remained hesitate.

"Ah, that did not work?" Erik questioned, pulling the rose back down with a grin. "As you wish then."

Then Erik opened his mouth and began to sing a melody that he had written a couple years back. It was a melody that was happy but entrancing. Erik often used to calm crying children down, but it also worked towards children who were nervous around him.

As he sung, Erik turned away from Rosaleen to sit more comfortably on the slide and Christine saw Rosaleen's eyes get wide at the sound. Christine smiled and let her eyes fall to fully appreciate the music. It was soft yet powerful. Pleasant to hear and completely overwhelming.

She opened her eyes when Erik abruptly stopped singing, letting out an 'oof.' She saw that Rosaleen had finally come down and had apparently used the slide to do it. It caused her to collide with Erik but as he turned around he was smiling.

"Finally decided to come down?"

Rosaleen looked away but held out her hand.

"Rose…" she whispered.

Erik laughed. "Of course, you may have it! Make sure you take good care of it, okay?"

Rosaleen nodded and did not fight when Erik moved to pick her up. Erik pulled the toddler close and as they walked back inside he handed her the rose.

By the end of the day, Rosaleen was glued to Erik's side and argued with her mom when she came to get her daughter.

"Told you she would be fine." Erik told the mom with a grin with Rosaleen attempting to hide from her mom by standing behind Erik's legs.

Nadir got married and Erik was the best man, much to Erik's delight. He took all of his responsibilities seriously, though Christine kind of felt sorry for the music players. Erik was in charge of playing the bride and groom dance at the reception, therefore, was extremely critical on choosing the players for the rest of the time. At one point, Nadir had to go to Erik to calm him down because he was getting stressed.

"Erik, calm down." Nadir told him gently, his hands resting on Erik's shoulders. "You're acting like this is your wedding! You're freaking out more than me!"

Erik gave him a weak grin. "Sorry."

Nadir shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It shows that you care and that makes me happy."

"Of course I care!" Erik now looked offended and Nadir laughed.

"Kidding, Erik! I know you do!"

Erik scowled at him. "I hate you."

"No you don't!" Nadir replied automatically with a grin.

The wedding went off without a hitch and the reception was great. Christine and Raoul were not big fans of the music that got played now, but once in a while, there would be a good song that they would dance too.

"I wish we could do this with Erik." Christine remarked while the two of them dance to an upbeat song.

"Me too." Raoul replied then sighed. "I don't know what else we can do Christine. Castiel said that as we make progress, we should gain abilities to help move things along, but as far as I know, that hasn't happened since Erik's last life when I began being able to touch the air around him. What else could we possibly do?"

Christine shook her head. "I don't know but we're obviously missing something."

She looked to the side and saw Erik dancing with Nadir's new wife, Rook. The both of them had a grin on their faces and they easily danced to the music. When the song ended, Erik leaned down and kissed the bride's cheek before leading her off the dance floor.

Christine felt a spark of envy flash in her but stomped it down. She has gotten a lot better at controlling the sins, mostly it was from her dedication to make sure that Erik was not influenced by them. Sure she had used them when she thought he needed them to get him through something, but she tried her best to not let her own emotions leak out in case they influence Erik like they had done in the first life she had observed.

She could not get rid of the jealousy completely, though it was enough that it would not affect Erik.

She wanted to be the one Erik kissed on the cheek. Well, her and Raoul. She wanted the three of them to be together with an Erik who can see and hear them. She wanted to hear him sing to her like he used to in their first life when he had been her angel and she would sing for him in return. Oh, how much she wanted to sing for him again. She wanted to him to hear her voice in all its glory, the way he had taught her to sound. She wanted the three of them to be able to spend each morning and night together, sharing their life with one another as it had supposed to be. She wanted Erik's love again.

For she did not have any doubt in her mind that she returned it wholeheartedly. She thinks she has loved him for a long time now.

Suddenly, Christine stumbled.

"Oh, pardon me, Miss. Didn't see you there." A young man told her before turning away.

Christine's mind froze but when it started back up, she quickly grabbed the man's shoulder.

Her hand did not go through.

Instead the man startled and turned towards her in confusion.

"Yes?" he asked.

In her shock, she backed away quickly. She spotted Raoul who was looking at her in disbelief. She reached out for him and he did the same.

Their hands went through.

Raoul's eyes widened and Christine noticed that several people were looking at her now, all confused by her appearance. She was being stared at! People could see her! Panicked, she hurried off the dancefloor and left the room. Raoul trailed behind her and when they got outside an empty hallway was around them.

Christine's chest felt strange and it took her a second to realize that it was her heartbeat! Her heart that was currently pounding and her breath was coming out in short gasps.

"Calm down, Christine." Raoul instructed smoothly. "Just take deep breaths. Come on copy me."

Christine did as she was told and soon she got her breath back. With wide eyes, she looked down at her hands and then up at Raoul.

"What is this?!" she exclaimed.

"Shh! If you can be seen, you can be heard!" Raoul shushed her quickly.

Christine shot a glance to the door. "I don't think they will. Music's too loud."

"Still, you don't want to attract attention to yourself."

Christine snorted. "I think it's too late for that. I made a pretty big scene inside."

"Not too many people saw you." Raoul protested. "And it was only people in Rook's family."

"What is this though? We were just talking about how no progress had been made. What did I do?" Christine questioned only half speaking to Raoul.

Raoul shook his head and opened his mouth to speak but then the door to the ballroom opened and out came the man she had bumped into and Erik.

"I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure I had not seen her before. She might have been a wedding crasher." The man stated. "Does she sound familiar?"

Erik shook his head. "I can assure you that I don't know any woman by the description you gave me."

Erik looked up and Christine panicked but his eyes went right over her as he looked down the hallway. He turned back to the man.

"If she was a crasher, she must have left when people began to notice her."

The man nodded and clasped Erik's arm. "Sorry for making a deal out of it."

"No, I'm happy you came to me instead of Nadir. I don't want anything to come to his notice that could ruin the night. Come, let's return inside."

With that Erik and the man returned inside and Christine frowned. She looked down at herself but saw no change.

"Raoul…"

Raoul held out his hand and she reached out.

Their hands touched.

"What happened?" she asked as she intertwined their fingers.

Raoul shrugged, he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. "I don't know. This is confusing. Maybe we can figure this out later but right now, I think you've been through enough unplanned excitement for one night."

 **Dun dun DUUUNNNNN! Yep, we are moving along. Anyone want to try to guess the reason Christine became solid? I would love to hear your thoughts and, don't worry, I do reveal the reason later. Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. Would love to read some reviews!**

 **See ya next time!**


	4. Opportunity Rises

Opportunity Rises

 **2010 - Present – New York City**

It took a year for Christine to get the hang of her ability to become visible and invisible again. Raoul helped her practice at night while Erik was asleep in his bedroom. They could not exactly try during the daytime, they did not want an incident like what happened at Nadir's wedding to happen again. Raoul knew that Christine was extremely happy to be able to touch things again. By the beginning of the second year, she would spend most of the night visible, gushing over the items she was once again able to touch. She also told him that when she was visible her heartbeat would start again. She had found the feeling unnerving the first few times, but has since gotten used to it as being a part of the shift.

Raoul was jealous of Christine's new ability but he could not hold it against her. She had always been the one to take whatever the next step was in this whole mission and as a result, his pride and love would overcome any negative emotions. The only down side was that they could not figure out what had caused the change. They had figured out that their ability to touch the air around Erik in their ghost forms had come from their acceptance that Erik was theirs as much as they were his soulmates. Raoul had questioned Christine about what she had been thinking about when she had first became visible but she could not remember, the shock of being seen erased whatever thoughts she had before.

Because Raoul could not become visible, Christine made a promise to him that she will not go to Erik in her solid form until he could do the same. He had argued with her on that, seeing it as a useless setback that could make things harder for them to complete their mission. However, Christine stood firm and Raoul was the one who eventually submitted. As the years went on, every once in a while Raoul would bring the subject back up on up about her showing herself to Erik, but Christine continued to refuse.

She continued this, no matter how many times Raoul had found Christine standing by Erik's bedside, biting her lip as she watched the man sleep with her hand hovering over his limp one.

Raoul would always make sure that she did not noticed that he had been there and he believed that she went on without knowing.

The closest Christine had ever gotten to breaking her self-made promise was the first night after Erik had found out that his foster father had died of a stroke. Erik had spent the majority of that evening crying in his apartment's living room. Raoul had tried to comfort him with the virtue of humility and its ability to make one not give into despair, and wrapped his arms around Erik's shoulders as much as he could in his form.

He had looked up to see the longing expression on Christine's face and Raoul knew instantly where her thoughts were heading.

Luckily, before Christine could do anything Antoinette and Nadir had shown up and for the rest of the night, the three siblings comforted each other.

Raoul knew that Christine loved the other man for a while and she was finally beginning to admit to herself that her feelings were real. If Christine had felt that way a couple lifetimes ago, Raoul knew that he would have been furious, but now he did not know what he felt.

He supposed that he was fine with her loving Erik, he did not think she had ever truly gotten over her emotions for the genius, even during their first life when he was insane and Raoul could admit that to himself. However, he was right by her side as they watched over Erik through four different lives before this current one. They watched what Erik could have been like if life hadn't treated him so terribly that he lost his mind in the first one. How full of life he really was, how loving and caring, the passion he felt towards everything he set his mind too and his creativity.

In regards to his own feelings, Raoul did not know. He certainly did not hate the man anymore. He could not remember when he finally forgave and moved on from what Erik had done to them in their first life, but he can say that he did not miss carrying that hatred. He had not realized how exhausting it was to maintain that form of negativity in him until it had gone away and he suddenly began to feel lighter. Raoul found this Erik to be a good man and can mentally acknowledge that he had felt jealously over times when Erik was with another, especially during Erik's last life when he was going to get married to Antoinette. However, he is certain that he does not feel for Erik the way Christine does.

When Erik was twenty-nine, Raoul saw the opportunity for Christine to get involved in Erik's life.

"Antoinette, I have great news!" Erik had announced when he had gone over to his sister's apartment for a visit.

The two constantly met up with each other, if it was not for the fact that they had separate places, someone could mistake them as living together. Antoinette's husband, Daniel, was currently away on tour with his troop in the Army so the apartment had only Antoinette and Meg occupying it. The older Meg grew, the easier it was for Raoul to confirm that it was the same Meg from their first life. The current ten year old blonde was as spunky as ever, though in this life Erik and Meg were close. Erik spoiled his niece and she adored the uncle that sang to her beautifully. Meg was actually one of Erik's students at his miniature school. When she was six Antoinette had let her join dancing and one thing from Erik's list of classes. She had chosen piano and has since learned from her uncle.

"You got the permit approved to expand your daycare?" Antoinette guessed as she stirred dinner on the stove.

Erik instantly deflated. "It's no fun when you guess. You took the excitement out of telling you." He pouted.

Antoinette sent him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I know how much you've been wanting that permit and it was the first thing that came to mind."

"Uncle Erik!" Meg exclaimed, running out of her room and into the kitchen where she lunged at Erik.

Erik immediately caught her as she reached him and swept her up into his arms. Meg squealed but did not ask to be put down.

"How's my little pearl?" Erik asked.

"Busy!" Meg declared with an exaggerate sigh. "School has been a total nightmare! Everyone is freaking out because next year we are going to be in middle school."

"That does not sound like a _total_ nightmare," Erik teased and Meg huffed. "Are you not a little concern about starting middle school?"

"No!" Meg scowled at Erik like she was offended that he would suggest such a thing.

"Really? Well, I'm not surprised. My pearl is a brave one, right?"

"Yep!" Meg beamed.

Erik chuckled and pressed his lips to her forehead for a second before setting her on the floor.

"You can tell me more at dinner, but I need to talk to your mother."

Meg shrugged but went back to her room.

"So, permit?" Antoinette probed.

"Yes, I was able to get the small lot next to mine. Building will start this summer and they should be done by the end of it. The new building will be bigger and used as my new daycare space with the current one will be the place for my music lessons and I'll be able to put in an office." Erik explained, his golden eyes gleaming with excitement. "I'll be able to take on more students and children."

"I'm happy for you." Antoinette smiled. "But don't you think having more children will require you to need help? Even you have a limit to how many children you can handle."

Erik paused thoughtfully. "Yes, that's true. I have not really thought about that."

"I'm not saying it's something you should worry about now. You have time." Antoinette hurried to say.

She turned off the stove and placed the lid on top of the skillet to keep it warm. She turned to face Erik completely.

"The earlier the better I would argue." Erik mumbled, obviously already thinking about what he could do. "I don't have the funds to hire another, not so soon after paying off that lot…"

"You could have a volunteer." Antoinette offered. "There are a lot of college students who are looking for volunteer hours and if not that there are those same students that need the experience like you did when you were getting your degree."

Erik hummed thoughtfully. "True. I could probably use one for both spaces. I'm be lucky if I can get one person to do both but I don't think it would happen if they are also a college student. I suppose I can put something up on my website…"

"Well, don't put it up now!" Antoinette laughed. "Or, at least, if you do, make sure you put that they would not be starting until this coming fall."

Erik shrugged. "It might be a good idea to do it soon. It'll let the parents know that there will be another and I'm sure that these things take longer than you think. Once I put the notice up, I might have a few applicants or I might have a large amount and I would have to go through every single one."

By the end of Erik's statement he had a long-suffering expression and Antoinette laughed at it. Erik shook his head.

"Yeah, okay, maybe I'll wait a bit after all."

Later that night, Raoul had suggested to Christine about her using the volunteer position to be with Erik and that turned into another argument. After that, the summer came and Raoul would bring up the subject.

"It's a great opportunity, Christine!" Raoul stated as they followed a few feet behind Erik as he got off his bus and made his way down the street towards his daycare.

Erik had posted the noticed on his website a few weeks ago and he had gotten a few people who were interested but they have not met Erik's expectations. He refused to let a high school student volunteer, and then there were the people who got scared away by Erik's appearance alone. The people who were not a high school student and didn't care for his face Erik would decline because of multiple reasons. Majority of the time it was because of their lack of patience with children, which had annoyed Erik to no end. He would let the person applying spend the day with him so that he could observe them. They would be fine while he was with them, but when the time came for Erik to watch them while they were alone, they changed and Erik would quickly escort them out.

"If they don't like children, why are they even bothering!?" Erik had huffed to both Nadir and Antoinette multiple times.

If not lack of patience it was because the people were not skilled at music like they had obviously lied about on their resumes to get in.

"Did they really think I would not test them?" Erik criticized to his siblings. "I do not expect them to be good at all three forms like me, I will be happy if someone knew one of them, but if you're going to put that you've been playing the piano since you were ten, I'm going to want to hear it myself."

Raoul could not tell which part frustrated Erik more. The lack of patience towards children or the people who lied.

"And I keep telling you no!" Christine countered. "We don't exist here Raoul! How am I supposed to give Erik a background of my previous experience, heck, I can't even give a phone number or address. How would you think that'll go down?"

"We can make stuff up. Christine…" Raoul began but she cut him off.

"I don't want to do anything until you're able to become visible! Stop trying to convince me because I refuse to let you talk me into it." Christine interrupted.

"You love him! Take the chance!" Raoul exclaimed, getting frustrated with how stubborn Christine was being.

"Well, so do you!" Christine hissed. "I'm not about to go after him while you can only watch!"

Raoul's mind and body froze. Christine walked a few paces ahead before noticing that Raoul wasn't next to her. She turned back to him with a frown then took on a shocked appearance that probably looked a lot like the one Raoul currently had.

"You mean…you never realized?" Christine whispered in disbelief.

Raoul continued to stare at her, not being able to say anything. He knew it wasn't possible but he felt as if his stomach had dropped and at the same time lifted to choke him. Christine turned her head to where Erik was walking further away from them and then glanced back at Raoul. She went to him and took his hand in hers and began to pull him. Raoul was grateful, he did not feel like becoming sick in the midst of his chaotic thoughts.

They could not leave Erik for a long period of time. It was something that they had discovered the hard way in Erik's second life. If they were not within fifty feet of Erik, they began to feel sick. Very sick. Raoul and Christine had agreed long ago that it was another punishment for them and also a way to keep them focused on the mission.

Christine pulled Raoul behind her as they slowly caught up with Erik. It helped that they could walked through people.

As they went, Raoul remained lost in his thoughts.

Him in love with Erik! Where in the world did Christine get that idea from? Sure, Raoul knew that he no longer had any hostile emotions but love?! Raoul looked up and spotted Erik strolling down the sidewalk ahead of them.

Raoul knew that he liked Erik in this life. This Erik was a lot like the others in many ways but in this life Erik was able to grow older then he had been in all the other ones and that allowed Raoul to get to know this life better. Erik was able to age to become a man and Raoul liked what he saw. He liked that Erik was in great shape and wore clothes that fit his form nicely. He liked that Erik was loving towards Antoinette, Nadir, and Meg, plus Rook and little Darius like they were his family, and the patience and care he showed his students and children at the daycare. He loved how Erik was sarcastic but in a funny way and was sentimental about things he received from his loved ones. He loved that Erik was confident in many things but did not let that make him arrogant. He loved Erik's smile and how it made his golden eyes light up every time…

Oh…Raoul realized, almost stopping again. He would have if Christine had not been pulling him along.

He was in love with Erik.

Suddenly, he smacked into something and stumbled back, his hand coming to his forehead.

"Ouch," he whispered and looked up to see a street lamp in front of him.

Blinking, he noticed that there were a couple people staring his way and it took him a second to realize that they were looking at him.

"Raoul!"

He glanced up and saw Christine a few feet away gesturing for him to follow her. He quickly followed her, half in shock that he was currently visible. Maybe. Oh wait, yes he was visible. The pounding of his heart in his chest was proof enough. Christine was right, it does feel strange when it comes back.

Raoul followed Christine into an alleyway where she talked him through what she does to become a ghost again. Raoul thought that his panic at losing space from Erik helped get him back faster. When they both knew that he was in ghost form again, they already started to feel sick. They hurriedly grabbed each other's hands and ran after Erik. Once they were a few feet behind the man again, Raoul broke the silence.

"I think I know why I was able to become visible."

 **There we go! Another chapter down. I think everyone is going to be happy to hear that there will be a first meeting soon! ;) Though I think that's pretty obvious from the chapter. Anyone want to try to guess the reason Raoul became solid? It's slightly more apparent now. Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. Leave a review!**


	5. First Meeting

**There's just one cuss word in this entire thing and it's in this chapter so warning I guess. Only because it's part of a saying, so yeah.**

 **Go forward!**

First Meeting

"You're saying that it's because you accepted that you are in love with Erik that you became visible?" Christine asked.

They were sitting on the large multi-colored rug that had an assortment of letters and numbers in squares. Kids were playing all around them and Erik was keeping them under control, though he was participating in the playing as well. Right now, the kids decided that they had all wanted to be on top of Erik and the older man was currently being buried by kids.

Raoul turned away from the funny sight and towards Christine.

"Yeah, I mean, it was what I was thinking about when it happened. Maybe the acknowledgement triggered it."

Christine hummed and was quiet for a few moments. Eventually she spoke.

"I think I was having similar thoughts when it happened to me." she began, she sat crossing her legs. "I do remember that I was thinking about Erik at least. I wouldn't be surprise if those were them. What an ironic way to go about it."

"What do you mean?" Raoul asked with a frown.

"I mean, when you think about it, it makes sense doesn't it?" Christine stated.

Raoul continued to look at her questionably so she continued. "In our first life, Erik loved me before I knew who he was. I wouldn't be surprise if this was another part of the punishment for the mission. Not letting us have the ability to be with Erik until we're completely in love with him but he has never met us. We have to go through the feeling of unrequited love."

Raoul groaned and threw himself backwards, placing an arm over his eyes. "Karma's a bitch."

"I won't argue with you on that." He heard Christine agree. "But at least now we can get involved in Erik's life. I'll have to teach you how to practice shifting but since I know everything it shouldn't take you too long."

Two weeks passed before Raoul and Christine were comfortable enough at his ability to shift, he had trouble getting use to his heartbeat again but he could only hope that the feeling would go away with time. They were lucky that Erik was still looking for one or two people to assist him and they began to make plans for how they were going to pull their plan. They decided that Raoul would go for the day care position while Christine would try for the music lessons.

They created stories for their background and had to be very careful when they used Erik's computer to create an email each and send a message to Erik about their interest in the positions, giving him information about themselves. They tried to keep it as close to their skills as possible. Raoul also found typing terrible. He has seen Erik and the rest of his family type with ease but going through many years without learning such a skill and having to suddenly learn it was not without its frustrations. At least Christine had as much trouble as he did. He watched in amusement how she typed with the tip of her tongue peeking out from her concentration. He did not feel bad for his amusement because he knew that Christine felt the same as she watched him.

Once they were done they made sure to leave no traces that someone had been on the computer or in the apartment except Erik. The next morning, the two of them watch Erik checked his email, along with theirs there were a few other interested people. Erik read and replied to all of them, some were rejections, others were sent to set up a meetings. When Erik got to theirs, Raoul was relieved that he did not send a reply to reject them. Instead he sent each of them an email asking if they were free to come by Friday morning for Raoul and Friday evening for Christine. They knew they could not reply until Erik was asleep that night but Raoul turned to Christine with grin and saw that she was doing the same.

"Phase one complete!" Raoul stated and Christine laughed.

Friday was three days away, they spent the time watching Erik go about his day like usual and deal with a couple people who had applied. Luckily, while Erik did not immediately kick them out for showing lack of patience towards the children or lie about their music abilities, he seem to be hesitating on accepting anyone.

They were determined to make it so that Erik would choose them.

Raoul had to admit that he and Christine held a huge advantage over the other applicants. They've been by Erik's side since he was born, they knew a lot more about what he found impressive and what he didn't like then the others. However, Raoul figured that the ends justified the means in this case. He and especially Christine have been waiting a long time to be at Erik's side and they were going to use whatever they could to make it happen.

Raoul waited eagerly for Friday to come but when it finally came he was overcome with a pile of nerves.

"You'll do fine." Christine reassured as they followed behind Erik going to his daycare. "I'll be there if you need any encouragement. Don't make it look too obvious though, the last thing we need is for Erik to think that you are staring into space for no reason."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement." Raoul replied dryly. "I think I'll be fine. We've only been watching Erik do this for how long?"

"About ten years." Christine nodded. "But make sure you don't do anything that Erik has done but is not common knowledge. That would make him think you're a stalker."

"Are you trying to help or not?" Raoul grumbled and Christine laughed in reply.

They made it to the day care, Raoul was told to show up in about fifteen minutes. They lingered outside as Erik went in and began setting things up for the day. Raoul knew that the other man wanted to meet him before his children began to show up and had asked him to show up thirty minutes early.

When it was a few minutes till their appointed time, Raoul and Christine went to the side of the building where they wouldn't be seen. Raoul used the place to shift and he suddenly felt his heart pounding in his chest and his stomach filled with butterflies.

Raoul could not argue with the physical display of his emotions.

"I look presentable right?" Raoul asked Christine, trying not to move his lips too much as he walked back to the front.

Christine rolled her eyes. "You look fine. You look like a normal young New Yorker. I don't understand why you're this nervous."

"You try being the one who has to go first." Raoul grumbled.

"Yes, but because you're going first you get to talk and touch Erik first! How do you think that makes me feel?" Christine countered with a scowl, crossing her arms over her chest.

The admission made Raoul paused. He had forgotten about that.

"Hurry up and go before you're late, you know how much Erik hates that. I'll be right here." Christine huffed with fondness.

Raoul quickly turned and noticed that the clock inside was right at the time he was supposed to arrive. He raised his hand and knocked on the door, which Raoul continued to find strange because he half expected for his fist to go right through. He waited for a few moments then the door opened.

Erik was behind it and Raoul felt his breath catch in his lungs at the sensation of Erik's golden eyes meeting his. Raoul and Christine have waited a long time for this and it was finally happening. Erik could see him, he could hear him.

"Right on time, assuming that you're who I think you are." Erik greeted with a grin.

Raoul continued to stare and it wasn't until he heard Christine clear her throat behind him that Raoul broke out of his stupor.

"Ah, yes!" Raoul mentally cringed at the volume of his voice. "I'm Raoul Lebeau."

While Raoul and Christine agreed that they should keep their first names, it would be confusing to suddenly take on new ones, they decided to change their last names. Their full names were known to a lot of people. They did not settle for random names either. Raoul had decided to use his mother's maiden name. It was easy and certainly something Raoul would response to. Christine, being the little vixen she was, chose to use Erik's last name from their first life.

"I want to be Christine Destler." She had told him when they were deciding.

Raoul had frowned. "Where's that from, I didn't know you knew anyone by such a name."

Christine grinned cheekily at him. "It was Erik's last name in our life."

"What?!" Raoul replied surprised. "I didn't know he had a last name then!"

Christine shrugged, a pleased grin lingering on her lips. "Neither did I while the whole event happened. However, I had asked Mr. Khan after Erik had died and he told it to me."

Raoul had sighed in irritation. "Well, that past Erik certainly got his wish. You have his name. I sort of feel like denying you to wipe that smirk off your face."

Christine's smirked turned into a completely innocent expression that Raoul did not buy for one second, but he did not argue against her using the name.

"You can call me Erik. Come on in." Erik moved back from the entrance and gave Raoul room to step inside.

Raoul went in and made a show of looking around. He knew this place like the back of his hand, however, he couldn't exactly let Erik know that.

"I like it." Raoul stated to Erik.

"I would hope so." Erik replied with an easy grin. Raoul felt his cheeks warm up and knew by the amusement in Erik's eyes that he noticed. "Let's get started shall we? We don't have a lot of time before the children start showing up."

For the rest of the day, Raoul worked next to Erik. He was finding it a lot different because the children were able to use him as a climbing tree just like they have done to Erik multiple times. Raoul knew that the children liked to mess with the new person and as a result was able to meet them head on because he was already expecting it. He thinks he had to owe it to Erik for his growth in the level of his patience towards kids. He had watched the man through the years never lose his temper towards any of them. Erik was always calm when he needed to be and cheerful in other times. Watching Erik's love for children made Raoul develop a fondness for them as well.

Therefore, he let them play their harmless pranks on him. He did not get mad when it was lunch time and a bunch of the kids purposely made a mess to test him. Or when a couple of the boys placed a caterpillar in his hand, he gently made them take it back outside to be in its home. Raoul thought the major test for the kids was his reaction to them piling on top of him. Which they did about an hour before the daycare was to start receiving the parents to pick up their kids.

At this point, Erik was also testing Raoul and had left him alone to deal with the kids, yet Raoul knew that the other man was watching. As if on cue, one of the bigger boys lunged at his legs as he went to stand. Startled, he let out a yelp but that was soon cut off by the blur of kids suddenly shrieking on top of him. This was usually the moment that people broke and lose their patience with the kids, but instead of scolding them, Raoul laughed.

They were heavier then he thought but was able to grab one of the girls who was laying on his arm. He bent his arm to bring her closer, making her squeak. He was able to wriggle his other arm out from under a boy and used his now free hand to start tickling the girl. She squealed in laughter and tried to get away. The other kids noticed what he had done and were trying to scrabble away from him, lest they get caught and tickled.

Using that, Raoul quickly let go of the girl and grabbed one of the boys next. He tickled him for a few seconds before moving on to the next victim. By the time, he let go of the third, all the kids were standing around him laughing. Raoul had to give the kids props, they were just out of his reach.

"Alright, alright. That's enough." Raoul heard Erik's voice instructed and looked up to see him standing against the wall with his arms crossed.

The delighted smirk that made Erik's eyes sparkle made Raoul lose his breath. Damn, he loved that smile.

Erik pushed away from the wall and began shooing the kids away from Raoul. They pretended to whine but when they did Erik pointed at the door that led to the back.

"Go play outside. I need to speak to Mr. Lebeau." Erik stated.

At the mention of being able the play outside, the children immediately rushed outside. When they were gone, Raoul noticed that Erik was holding his hand out to him. Raoul grabbed it and Erik pulled him up.

"That was an impressive reaction to their attack." Erik declared, letting go of Raoul's hand once he was on his feet.

"Do they do that often?" Raoul asked, knowing the answer.

Erik shook his head.

"No, but seeing as you are new, they wanted to see your reaction." Erik gave him a thoughtful look, cocking his head to the side. "I assure you that they are better behaved then how they were today."

"Oh no. I completely understand." Raoul hurried to say. "They obviously adore you and I'm sure they don't want just any one working by your side here. Kind of remains me of the children of a single parent trying to date."

Realizing how that might have sounded, Raoul turned away in horror, knowing his face was turning red. He spotted Christine sitting on the colorful rug, holding her hands to her mouth, obviously trying to hold back her laughter. He sent her a glare then turned back to Erik as he began speaking.

"Yes well, you did a wonderful job at handling them today." Erik remarked, the amused spark in his eyes told Raoul that he also noticed Raoul's wording.

"Thank you." Raoul mumbled, not knowing what else to say and not wanting to put his foot in his mouth again.

"I'll be in contact with you soon." Erik stated with a grin, holding his hand out for Raoul to shake. "I suppose you would prefer email. You didn't leave a phone number in any of your emails."

"Ah," Raoul started sheepishly as he took Erik's hand. "My phone recently broke and I cannot get a new one yet. I don't know when I will, therefore the lack of a number."

Erik nodded in understanding. "That's alright. Email it is then. I'll let you know by Sunday whether you have the position or not."

They shook once and Raoul reluctantly let Erik's hand go. He smiled at the other man instead. "I'll be looking for it. Goodbye Erik."

"Goodbye, Mr. Lebeau." Erik replied with a grin then turned away to go back to his children.

Raoul quickly walked out of the building and made his way to the side of it. Christine followed after him and he shifted back once he made sure no one was in sight. As soon as Raoul was in his ghost form again, Christine threw her arms around him.

"That was great! You did great! There's no way Erik is going to turn you down!" Christine beamed, giving his cheek a brief peck.

"I hope so." Raoul sighed, his hands resting on her waist. "I have to admit that was a little exhausting. I don't know if it was because of the pressure or being around the kids or if it was because I was visible for so long."

"Maybe a combination on all three?" Christine suggested as she leaned back, keeping her hands hooked around his neck. "After my turn is finished I'll let you know. I won't have to deal with kids like you do but we'll see."

"Nervous?" Raoul asked with a grin.

Christine shrugged. "A little. I would be crazy if I wasn't but I think I can do this. Music is what I'm good at, I should be fine."

Raoul grinned down at her. "He is going to love you. I'll be shocked if he doesn't hire you on the spot after your session."

"We'll see." Christine grinned eagerly.

 **And there it is! First meeting between Raoul and Erik, Christine's up next! Lebeau is just a French surname I found that I figured went with Raoul. Made it up as the mom's maiden name. *shrug* Next chapter will be in Christine's POV. And don't forget to tell me what you think! Leave a review! See ya next time.**


	6. Betting Siblings

Betting Siblings

The hour came and went and Christine shifted into her visible form. She went to the front door and shot a glance to Raoul as she raised her hand to knock. He sent her a double thumbs up and she knocked on the door. She waited a few moments before the door opened.

"Hello. Miss Destler, I presume?" Erik asked.

Their eyes met and Christine suddenly understood why Raoul was caught off guard when he was first seen Erik. She had forgotten the intensity of having those golden eyes focus solely on her.

"Yes," She managed to breathe out after a second. "That's me."

Erik grinned and stepped back to let her in.

"Pardon the mess, I run a daycare during the day and the music room is in the back. That'll change shortly. Soon the building next door will be the day care and this space will turn into my office and music building." Erik told her and he led her through to the music room.

"Is that why you're looking for assistants?" Christine questioned as they walked.

Erik nodded and reached into his pocket to pull out the key to the music room. As he unlocked it, he spoked.

"Yes, technically I only need one who could help me with the day care but I couldn't help but see this as an opportunity to offer someone a chance to get involved in music."

He paused with his hand on the doorknob and turned back to her.

"How do you feel about music?"

"I love it." Christine answered honestly. "It's been a huge part of my life growing up and can't imagine what I would be like without it."

Erik grinned, pleased by her answer. He turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"Glad to hear that."

Erik waved her inside and she walked in. The music room was cozy with warm colors surrounding them. Christine spotted Erik's grand piano in one corner with two violins on their stands a few feet away. One of the violin was Erik's while the other was used by his students who could not afford to get their own. There was a large white board that covered majority of one wall and a large couch against another wall. The room wasn't large but it fit everything inside of it with comfortable space to move around.

"This is nice. Makes you feel relaxed as soon as you step inside." Christine remarked.

"You'll be surprise by how many of my students get stressed at the beginning of the sessions." Erik informed her, coming to stand by her side. He gave her a side glance. "This room I tried to make as calm as possible."

Christine would not be surprised at all. She knew exactly which students went through stress during the first lessons. She had been there, after all.

"The board is pretty intimidating." Christine stated causally.

Erik snorted and shook his head. Christine noted that Erik's lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. She considered it a victory.

"Well, it's still a class of some sort and it helps the kids learn their notes easier."

Christine went over to the violin and picked up the one that was used by the students. It was worn but still in great shape.

"Play the violin?" Erik asked behind her.

She shook her head, staring down at the instrument in her hands. "Oh no, but my dad used too. He taught me how to read the music but I could never get the hang of playing. He was great at it, one of the best in my opinion."

"I take it by your wording he is no longer around?"

"No, but that was a long time ago." Christine declared. A very, _very_ long time ago.

She didn't notice that Erik had moved until he was gently taking the violin out of her hands. She looked up at him and his eyes displayed sympathy. Erik looked like he was going to say something but was cut off by a knock at the door.

Erik glanced at the door than cleared his throat as he turned back to her.

"First student?" she asked lightly.

Erik gave her a small grin and placed the violin in its stand. "First student. She's new and has only done a few sessions with me."

Erik's lips twitched and the grin turned into a smirk. "She's still self-conscious about warming up her voice."

"Oh no." Christine snickered. "We're going to have to break that from her then."

That night, Erik had two lessons. The first was a ten year girl who soaked up the paper knowledge of how to read notes but the practical was poorly done. She got embarrassed every time Erik would ask her to warm up her voice so that they could begin the practice portion. Even after Erik would do the exercises to show her that she's not the only one doing the embarrassing sounds.

"How about you follow Miss Destler?" Erik suddenly stated, catching Christine off guard.

She looked at him questionably and he sent her a shrug before turning back to his shy student.

"You can merge your voice with hers." Erik began. "I won't be able to tell the difference, but I really need you to do this if you want to continue."

Christine knew that was a total lie. Erik's hearing was way too good to not be able to split her voice with the girl's, but she understood why he said that.

The girl turned her head to look at her and Christine nodded. She could do the exercises, she's done them enough times under Erik's instruction during their first life and through the years as his guardian to keep her practice up.

The girl finally nodded and Erik beamed at her.

"Alright, from the top then!"

By the end of the lesson the girl was still didn't want to do it on her own, but it was progress.

The next lesson was a thirteen year old boy, who was used to Erik's instructions but had to deal with his voice cracking unexpectedly while he sung. Erik never criticized him for that, but instead focused on what he could do without having his voice crack. Erik made it into a type of game for the three of them and by the end of it the boy was smiling, pleased with his lesson and not at all embarrassed by his developing voice.

"Very well done today. I'm impressed." Erik told her once his last student was picked up by their parents. "You obviously know your music with vocals."

Christine felt the heat raise on her cheeks and tried to force it away by sheer will.

"Thank you." She replied softly.

"There's just one more thing left. Usually, I do this first with the applicants but we had lost time before I could ask." Erik remarked, wiping the board with the eraser.

Christine knew what was coming and was not surprised by Erik's continuation.

"In your email, you stated that you had years of experience in regards towards your own singing. I would like to hear it." Erik announced.

"Sure." Christine watched Erik put the eraser down and turn towards her. "Is there anything you would like for me to sing in particular?"

Erik shrugged and waved his hand dismissingly. "I cannot suggest anything because I don't know your range. I'll leave the selection up to you."

Christine figured that he would say that, luckily she was already warmed up from her helping Erik with his students and was ready to begin.

"I have quite the range. I would like for you to pick something."

Erik sighed, then tapped his chin with his index finger. "Alright. Do you know the musical Phantom of the Opera?"

Christine nodded. When Erik couldn't think of a song to play, his default music was from his favorite musical.

"The musical has a variety of ranges. Pick a solo song from it." Erik sent her a grin. "Impress me."

Christine smiled back, and opened her mouth to sing.

 _You were once, my one companion  
You were all that mattered  
You were once, a friend and father  
Then my world was shattered_

 _Wishing you were somehow here again  
Wishing you were somehow near  
Sometimes it seemed, if I just dreamed  
Somehow you would, be here_

 _Wishing I could hear your voice again  
Knowing that I never would  
Dreaming of you won't help me to do  
All that you dreamed I could_

There was a crashed and Christine opened her eyes, not having realized she had closed them.

"Erik!" Christine cried, hearing Raoul's curse behind her.

She rushed to Erik, who was blinking dazedly on his knees, one of his music stands laying on the ground next to him. She grabbed his shoulder and he jumped.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Christine demanded, feeling frantic.

Erik stared at her for a few moments with wide eyes. Then he blinked and turned away, frowning in confusion.

"I don't know." He stated unsurely. He raised his hand to his forehead, his eyebrows furrowing downwards. "You started singing and I couldn't help but think it sounded familiar, which was strange. Then I was on the floor."

Christine shot a glance to Raoul, who was kneeling by Erik's other side, unseen by the man. Their eyes met for a few seconds before Christine turned back to Erik and helped him to his feet.

"Sorry." She apologized.

Erik chuckled. "I don't see why you're apologizing. I guess your voice was so beautiful it put me in trance."

Erik said that in a joking manner and Christine made herself laugh with him, but she could not help but think what he said was true. Erik had loved her voice in their first lives, maybe singing to him again brought back some things from the past. Castiel reassured them that Erik would never remember his past lives, telling them that after Erik's brief remembrance in his life in Berlin extra precautions were taken. However, Erik collapsing at the sound of her voice made her unsure. She hoped it was only this time because she wanted to be able to sing for Erik again. But for now, she'll back away.

"Let's not try that again then." Christine offered in what she hoped sounded light. "Wouldn't want you to collapse again."

"No we wouldn't." Erik replied with a grin.

He gestured for her to leave the room and as she did, Erik picked up the fallen stand and placed it back on its feet. He walked out of the room and locked it up.

"I got a few things I have to take care of, but you are free to leave. I'll let you know if you have the position by Sunday. Email your preference?"

"Yes." Christine confirmed. She held out her hand for Erik to take. "It was nice meeting you Erik."

Erik took her hand in his and they shook hands before letting go. As Christine made her way to the front, Erik called out to her.

"Oh and Miss Destler."

Christine turned her head to find Erik grinning.

"I meant what I said earlier. Your voice is beautiful, maybe the most beautiful one I have ever heard."

Christine's cheeks flushed a deep red and felt her heart skipped a beat.

"Thank you." She mumbled loud enough for Erik to hear then walked out.

"Okay, so unexpected ending but he loved your voice, even if it made him almost faint." Raoul remarked as Christine went to the side of the building to shift back.

Once she was in her ghost form the two of them walked through the wall to be in the building again.

"I don't know what could've done that. I hope this doesn't mean Erik has the chance to remember things. I would rather not have him remember being an insane genius who murdered people." Christine stated uneasily.

Raoul shook his head. "Doubt it. Castiel said that he can't remember so he won't. Plus him remembering would just be awkward since he has a book, musical, and movie about his life."

"I guess." Christine sighed.

Erik left the building shortly after and the two of them trailed behind him as he made his way to Nadir's place. Every Friday, the three siblings would meet up at one of their places to catch up and visit. That week it was Nadir's turn to host everybody.

The group included Nadir, his wife Rook, their six year old son Darius, Antoinette, and Meg. The simple gathering was dinner but those dinners always lasted for serval hours.

When Erik got to Nadir's apartment, he was greeted by Rook and led inside where the others were all waiting.

"You're late." Nadir stated upon spotting Erik walk through the dining room entrance.

"No I'm not, you started early." Erik replied easily.

Meg and Darius ran up to their uncle. Darius clung to Erik's leg while Meg grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the table.

"Darius, let your uncle walk properly." Rook scolded her son.

Erik laughed. "It's fine, Rook. My children at the day care do this to me all day long. I've become somewhat of an expert."

Erik got to the table and Nadir and Rook began serving everyone. Through the meal every one talked about what was going on over the past week. When it got to Erik's turn, Antoinette pointed her fork at him.

"Okay, you have to tell us why you've been wearing that silly grin on your face all evening. You look positively besotted."

Erik laughed. "My dear, I'm not besotted, simply happy. I think I found the two who will be my assistants."

"Really? That's your expression for finding who to hire?" Nadir questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Makes me wonder what you'll look like if you ever do get to fall in love."

Erik's cheeks turned red but Antoinette patted his hand to get his attention.

"Well, tell us about them! From how many people you had to go through to find them, they much be impressive."

"Oh, they were!" Erik started excitedly. "The man who came by for the day care position was wonderful with the children! As you know, they don't like to behave when a new person shows up but he handle them like he's been doing it for years! The woman who came for the music position was also great. She really knew her stuff and had the most captivating voice! They were both charming and definitely impressive!"

"Yep, positively besotted." Antoinette declared with a grin.

Erik rolled his eyes. "I am not. Excuse me for being excited after all the failures I had to deal with through the months."

"Erik's right, Antoinette, no need to push your thoughts of love on him." Nadir scolded but then smirked mischievously. "At least, not without me."

"Hey!" Erik protested.

"Let's make a bet!" Nadir declared pointing across the table at Antoinette. "In a year's time Erik will be dating one of them. The bet's on who."

"Deal. My bet on the woman, your bet on the man?" Antoinette recommended instantly and Nadir nodded his acceptance.

Erik glared at his siblings. "Are you serious right now? The two of you are acting more immature then my children! You're in your thirties!"

"It's harmless fun, Erik. Really, you have been alone this whole time." Antoinette stated. "Ignore the bet if you want, but who knows what the next year will bring. Both of you assistants seem to an awful great start."

Erik face palmed with a groan. "There are so many things wrong with this. You two are putting way too much in people I barely met today."

Christine turned to the side as the siblings continued to argue. Her eyes met Raoul's pleased ones and knew that her own shined with similar amusement.

"What happens if he get with both of us? Wouldn't that cancel out the bet?" Raoul asked with a smirk.

Christine shrugged playfully. "Honestly? I think Nadir and Antoinette would tease Erik more mercilessly than before, not that it'll be much of a difference, but they would also be happy for him."

Raoul nodded. "Well, we know that we got hired. Phase two is complete."

"Phase three is going to be the hardest." Christine remarked, watching Erik scold his two siblings, Rook taking her brother-in-law's side while Meg and Darius laugh at their parents getting scolded.

"True." Raoul conceded, but grinned. "But falling in love is the best part."

"I hate you both!" Erik growled at his siblings.

"No you don't!" Nadir and Antoinette replied automatically with satisfied grins.

 **And there was Christine's meeting, plus a little mischief on the side. ;) Hope my readers enjoyed it! If you did, be sure to leave a review! Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. See ya next time!**


	7. Avoiding the Siblings

**Hey everyone sorry for the late update. I was somewhere that I thought would have reliable wifi and I was wrong. But, I'm back with the new chapter. Here we go.**

Avoiding the Siblings

When Sunday came, Erik sent Raoul and Christine a separate email to let them know that they got the positions. Monday came and Raoul went to the daycare to be with Erik during the day while Christine went in the evening to do the music lessons. The kids at the daycare were happy to see Raoul. They were happy enough that they piled on top of him again. This time Raoul couldn't break free because they had learned their lesson for the first time and more of them laid on his arms.

Erik was the one who had to eventually save him. Raoul's neck was sore from trying to sit up with the weight of the kids, but Erik's smile as he shooed the kids off of him made it worth it.

"I thought you said that they don't do that often." Raoul pointed out with a grin.

"They don't." Erik agreed. "But I think they are happy that you were the one chosen."

"And you?" Raoul asked, going to stand by Erik's side. The older man was picking up a few pairs of shoes that some of the children had left scattered as they took them off. "Are you happy that you picked me?"

Erik straightened and they were only a few inches apart. Erik's golden eyes met his and for a few seconds they stared at each other.

"Well," Erik began causally, not moving away. "It's only been one day. You certainly haven't made me regret it…yet."

"Ouch." Raoul huffed in mock offence and backed away. "Glad to know you have such high expectations."

"Oh, I do." Erik countered lightly. "You just don't know them."

Raoul blinked in surprise at the admittance and stared after Erik as he walked away to put the shoes he picked up in the coat closet.

"Wow, I can't believe you are already flirting with him." Christine came up from behind Raoul, looking after Erik.

"I can't believe he let me." Raoul mumbled in reply, trying to make his lips look like they weren't moving. It wouldn't do for any of the kids to think he was talking to himself.

Raoul saw Christine shrugged in the corner of his eye.

"Maybe he didn't notice it was a flirt? We both know that he's not really good at picking up such things." Christine offered.

Raoul would've nodded but stopped himself in time. Instead he mumbled a soft, "Maybe."

The day went by fine, Raoul no longer had to deal with the kid's pranks because they had accepted him. The day came to an end and when all the kids were gone Erik bid him a farewell. He switched back into his ghost form and watched Christine go inside to do her time with Erik. Mondays were violin and Christine helped where she could, her father's teaching coming back to her as the lessons progressed.

Raoul thought that as long as they could keep doing what they were doing, they might be able to move into the friend department and hopefully soon after that more than that. However, the pace was based off Erik's stride, he had control over everything in this, even if he didn't know it. Raoul knew that he and Christine were completely gone over for the older man and they couldn't risk losing him by trying to go to fast.

Raoul snorted at the thought, wondering how Erik's first life self would react if he knew that his soul had such power over the two of them. He would probably be amused and have a form of satisfaction at the irony.

Tuesday, things went by normally for Raoul but when it was Christine's turn, Erik was obviously nervous. When Erik gets nervous he has a habit of wriggling his hands as if trying to grab something with both hands but could never grasp it, resulting in the constant shifting of his hands together.

"Erik?" Christine asked him as she took out the piano books Erik had in one of the draws in the music room. "You okay?"

Erik sighed and forced himself to put his hands at his sides. "Yes and no."

Raoul watched Christine raise an eyebrow at the older. "You want to give me a little more to work with?"

"Yes, I'm okay because my niece, Meg, is coming tonight. She's one of my students." Erik explained, pacing because if he couldn't wriggle his hands, he paced. "No, I'm not okay because that means my sister will be dropping by."

"Do you have a bad relationship with your sister?" Christine inquired with a frown.

Raoul had to give her props. She was a lot better at pretending to know nothing to try to get more information out of Erik.

"Oh no, we have a wonderful relationship." Erik stopped in his pacing and turned to Christine. "However, she knows about you and I would rather not have the two of you meet yet."

"Why would that be a problem?" Christine countered as she flipped through one of the piano books. Raoul and she knew the reason, Antoinette was basically the stereotype of protective big sister. Sure she likes to tease and mess with Erik but she was a true force to be reckon with if something had to do with Erik's emotions, especially when it involved other people. Raoul had acknowledged a long time ago that the Antoinette in this life was scary when she needed to be.

"If you knew my sister, you wouldn't ask that." Erik told her. "After I told her about you it made her curious. Knowing her, she's going to try to meet you and I fear if that were to happen too soon, she'll scare you away."

Christine snorted and looked up from the book in her hands. "She's protective?"

Erik squinted. "You have no idea." They did. "But it's not just that, she will want to interrogate you and trust me when I say that it's exhausting to deal with."

"Alright, alright." Christine laughed. "I won't be here when your sister comes. Maybe I can hide out in the restroom or something until she leaves."

"I wouldn't have you go that far." Erik protested. "Only…watch out for her."

Antoinette came and Meg along with her. Erik had left the room to go greet them and Christine made herself go ghost form. The two of them went to the front and saw Erik holding Meg's hand as they walked towards the music room.

"Is your assistant here yet? She should be, I know you hate slackers." Antoinette stated. Not giving Erik the chance to reply, she wiped the music door open, only to find it empty.

"Antoinette!" Erik protested, his eyes shifted in confusion in search of Christine. "That was rude! If she had been in the room, you would've given her a heart attack!"

"You said she was in her low twenties so I doubt that." Antoinette refuted. She let out a disappointed sigh. "I kind of wish to stay to see her."

When Erik sent her a glare, she raised her hands in surrender. "But I know how you can get if something gets in the way of music. I'll be back later."

Antoinette gave Meg a kiss on her forehead and left. She walked out of the building, Meg turned to her uncle.

"Is this person the one you talked about on Friday?" She asked. "The one that Uncle Nadir and mom made a bet—"

"Yes!" Erik interrupted softly, his cheeks taking on a pink shade. "Let's not mention any of that in front of her, shall we?"

Meg shrugged and the two entered the music room. Christine made herself visible again in the hallway and entered the room a few moments later.

"You must be Meg." Christine stated upon entering the room. Raoul moved to one of the wall of the room and got comfortable since the lesson was about to start.

Erik and Meg looked up from where they were setting up.

"And you're Miss Destler." Meg reply cautiously.

Raoul found her tone amusing. In this life, Meg was shyer towards strangers though she opened up a lot once she got to know someone. In her first life, Raoul had found her to never be shy, then again, that Meg had been on the stage since she was a child. Still, he knew that Christine was happy to be able to talk to her old friend.

"Please, call me Christine."

The lesson went on without a hitch and by the end, Raoul could tell that Meg liked Christine. Erik offered Christine the chance to leave slightly before the lesson ended and Raoul knew that it was to try to get Christine out of there before Antoinette showed up. Also knowing this, Christine took Erik up on his offer and said her goodbyes to the two.

Antoinette was disappointed that she missed Christine, the squint in her eyes told Raoul that she knew that it was somehow Erik's fault, something the younger sibling denied.

The days went by and Raoul and Christine got used to the routine of their positions and Raoul was certain that the two of them were growing on Erik, at least to the entry of friendship. It was a month after they began helping Erik that the new building was ready to be moved into. Erik didn't ask either of them to help, and as a result watched Erik move thinks from one building to the other with the help of Nadir in their ghost forms. The two foster siblings were able to finish by the end of the day and both were exhausted.

"Don't ever get another building." Nadir huffed, wiping his sweaty forehead with a towel Erik handed to him. The two of them relaxing on the back end of Nadir's truck, eating their packed dinner Rook had made for them.

Erik grinned and took a sip of his water bottle. He pointed at Nadir. "I don't know, I think this was a good workout for you. Is that a belly roll?"

Nadir pushed Erik off his truck and Erik landed on his feet laughing.

"I'm fit!" Nadir growled.

"I'm teasing. You're still a devilish heartbreaker," Erik mocked with a smirk.

Nadir rolled his eyes, but did not do anything when Erik climbed back onto the truck.

After that, Raoul and Christine decided to let Erik know that they were dating. They couldn't say they were married. While they technically were, the certificate was over a century old and the record showed that they were dead. They wanted Erik to know that they were together because they thought it might make things easier. They needed Erik to be with both of them and if he fell for them only to discover that they were with each other could cause unnecessary results. If he knew that they were together before he started developing feelings for them, it would be easier to go after him together.

A week later, they put their plan in motion. It was a simple one, all that there was to it was Christine showing up at the daycare while Raoul was still working with Erik. Raoul and Erik were cleaning up while waiting for the last few kids to be picked up. Christine knocked and waved through the glass doors as Erik and Raoul looked up. Erik looked startled, but hurried to the door and unlocked it, letting Christine in.

"You're early, Miss Destler." Erik remarked.

Christine shrugged and walked inside.

"Sorry Erik, it's my fault." Raoul joined in as Christine made her way to him.

They made it look like she was handing him something, there wasn't anything there but they needed an excuse for her being there. Raoul placed the 'item' in his pocket before they turned back to Erik.

One of Erik's eyebrows was up as he observed them. "You two know other?"

"Yeah, we're dating." Raoul informed him.

Raoul was a little disappointed that no form of disappointment or any jealous emotions flashed through Erik's eyes. Instead the older man cocked his head to the side and appeared thoughtful.

"Interesting." Erik's lips twitched as if fighting back a smirk.

"Something funny?" Christine asked, curious. Raoul and Christine might have been by Erik's side his entire life, but that didn't make them mind readers.

Erik quickly shook his head, forcing the would-be smirk away. "No, no, it's nothing."

Suddenly, one of the kids who was waiting to be picked up tugged on Christine's dress.

"You're pretty." The girl commented and Christine went to her knees and smiled at the girl.

"Why thank you and you are beautiful yourself." Christine replied, causing the toddler to blush.

I guess that went well, Raoul thought. He glanced back and saw Erik on his phone appearing to be texting someone.

He also had a smug expression as he typed.

Erik finished whatever he was doing, and looked up as he put his phone away, the smug expression disappearing into an innocent look as he noticed Raoul watching him.

"I needed to send a text." Erik stated innocently, making Raoul squint at him in suspicion, but decided not to question it.

He already had an idea of who Erik had text and what was in the message.

Either way, Raoul and Christine had gotten that part done and pretty easily at that.

 **And there we go. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Be sure to leave a review if you did! Next chapter will be in Christine's POV.**


	8. Taken By Surprise

Taken by Surprise

It took two more weeks before Antoinette was finally able to get her chance to meet Christine and Raoul. Christine had to give the older woman props, she was able to catch Erik off guard by showing up on a day that Meg didn't have practice. She was also lucky. Raoul had been there as well, staying later to be with Erik and Christine. It was something that started recently, Christine had started to come earlier while Raoul lingered. They didn't do it every day, but at least once a week one of them would stay longer. It was during these short periods in between the hours of the daycare and the music lessons that they were able to "find out" more about Erik.

The older man himself was more causal when it was just the three of them, making Christine believe that he was getting more and more comfortable with them. She liked to think that they were all friends.

Christine has always known what kind of person Erik was in this life, but to be able to interact, talk, and laugh with him was something else altogether. If she had not already been in love with him, she knew that she would've been by now.

Sometimes that thought made her sad because it made her wonder if Erik would have turned out like that if she had stayed with him during their first life. It would have obviously taken time since he had not been fully sane that life, but Castiel did tell her he would've gotten better. Christine wondered if this Erik is what could've been, maybe not exact, but a little…

She tried to not linger on those thoughts, there was no point to them. She had not chosen Erik in that life and what had happened after was the result of it. Christine refuses to let her regret get in her way of things. She had lived happily with Raoul in that life and now she was given another chance at being with Erik. The three of them would eventually come together, this Christine had no doubt, the only question was the when.

Christine knew that she certainly hoped that it was in this life.

There was a knock on the door a good twenty minutes before Erik was expecting his first student for that night. Christine was talking to Erik about what exercises should the first student do while Erik wrote on the board and Raoul was sitting on the couch a few feet away.

At the sound, Christine paused in her suggestions and Erik turned around with a frown.

"That's odd. Charlotte doesn't usually come so early." Erik stated, placing the marker down and going towards the door.

Right as he got to the door and was reaching out to open it, the door flew open and a blur lunged towards him.

Erik yelped and Christine jumped at the attack but then the next moment a laugh was heard.

"Ha! Who said I couldn't catch the great Erik by surprise!" Antoinette exclaimed with a laugh.

"Antoinette!" Erik cried in his shock.

The older woman had her hands clasped behind Erik's neck. She leaned forward and gave him a greeting with a quick kiss on his cheek. Then her eyes searched and found Christine and Raoul. Her smile turned into a smirk.

"Oh ho! Here I thought I would only get the chance to meet the music assistant! My, what luck I have today to find both of you here!"

Erik sent Raoul a small glare for waving at them. The look stood for 'don't encourage her!' Erik turned back to Antoinette and broke her grip with a defeated sigh.

"Fine, you little vixen. This is Mr. Lebeau, who helps me with the daycare and this is Miss Destler, my music assistant." Erik introduced.

Antoinette gave each of them a grin. "I'm Erik's older sister, Antoinette. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, we know." Raoul admitted, getting up from his spot on the couch. "Erik has mentioned you a couple times."

Antoinette sent Erik a suspicious side glance, who kept an innocent expression on his face. "Nothing but good things I hope."

"Only the best." Raoul replied easily with a charming grin.

"Well aren't you a flatterer." Antoinette replied, then she gained a thoughtful expression. "Erik has never mentioned your first names, always referring to you by your last names. What are they?"

"My full name is Raoul Lebeau." Raoul answered simply. He went over to stand in front of Antoinette and held out his hand to her. She took it and they shook hands a couple times before letting go.

"I'm Christine Destler." Christine joined in, walking until she stood by Raoul's side. "It's finally nice to meet you."

"Ah, I can see why Erik never told us your first names." Antoinette stated. She gained a smirk to which she directed to Erik, who was currently refusing to look at her. Because of this, she elbowed him gently in his side. "Now that I know, I'm telling Nadir. He's going to get a real kick out of this."

"Is something funny about our names?" Christine asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Not really." Antoinette began, amusement clear in her eyes. "It's just that…did you know that your names are the main characters in a famous musical? The two characters are a couple as well."

"Ah, yes. The Phantom of the Opera." Christine saw Raoul cringed as he spoke. He still didn't really like the musical based off their lives even if he's gotten used to it. He especially hates how popular the production is after all these years. Christine still finds that funny. "We've had that pointed out to us before. It became funnier after the two of us started dating."

"You kind of look like them too." Antoinette snickered.

Erik rolled his eyes, finally joining the conversation. "They do not look like anyone, Antoinette. The story is a fable and we cannot say they look like people who don't exist."

Christine saw Raoul shift awkwardly next to her and felt the same discomfort. Sometimes it was weird to remember that there were people pretending to be them on stage while they were the real thing.

"Well yeah, but in the musical the actors and actresses have a certain look and they look like that look." Antoinette countered. "Naturally, I might add. A lot of actors put on makeup and wear wigs to get that appearance."

Erik raised his eyebrow at his sister.

"Look like that look?"

Antoinette huffed and punched Erik's arm. "You know what I mean."

"Charming." Erik stated sarcastically, rubbing the spot Antoinette had hit. "While I must say that this hasn't been pleasant at all, Miss Destler and I have a student coming in about five minutes."

Antoinette laughed, putting her hands up in a placating gesture. "Alright, alright. I'm leaving."

She dropped her arms and faced Christine and Raoul. "It was nice meeting you. I do hope that we'll be seeing each other again soon."

Erik huffed next to her, he had his arms crossed over his chest. "And I hope that it doesn't."

Antoinette reached to grab Christine's hand. She allowed it and was taken aback by the touch of paper that slide into her hand. Christine met Antoinette's eyes and the older woman winked then let go of her hand. Antoinette straightened and gave Erik a goodbye kiss on his cheek which the younger sibling allowed.

"I'll see you when I drop Meg off. Goodbye!" Antoinette stated chirpy as she had finally gotten what she wanted. With that being said, she walked out of the door.

The next moment, Erik let out a moan and placed his head in his hand, covering his eyes. Christine had been fighting back a smirk from the event that occurred but had tried to keep it hidden for Erik's sake, but since he wasn't looking at the moment Christine let the amusement show itself. While he wasn't looking she also placed the paper Antoinette had given her into her pocket.

She opened her mouth to speak but, as if Erik could read her mind, Erik held up his finger up with his free hand without looking up.

"Not one word from either of you." Erik commanded.

The tone made Christine laugh and Raoul laughed with her. Erik opened his fingers over his eyes enough to be able to glare at the two of them. The sight made Christine laugh harder. Raoul ended up being the one to get his breath back first.

"So that's your sister? I don't think she's that bad." Raoul remarked.

Erik sighed and rubbed his face with his hand as he straightened up. "That's because this is your first meeting. I warn you, her time of terror will come."

"Right now, all her goal seemed to be was mess with you." Christine noted with a grin.

"That woman is my best friend and worst enemy!" Erik admitted. "Tonight she played more of an enemy."

Raoul shrugged. "Well, that's sisters for you."

Later that night when Erik was asleep, Christine pulled the piece of paper Antoinette had snuck into her hand and unfolded it with Raoul looking from behind her.

It was an email address, one that she recognized as Antoinette's.

 _Email me if you wish to know anything about Erik!_

— _Antoinette_

"I think we found ourselves an ally in this." Raoul declared.

Christine pressed her hand to her mouth to muffle her giggle, but nodded in agreement.

The Friday family dinner that week was at Antoinette's house and when Erik arrived she told Nadir everything much to Erik's dismay.

"Antoinette!" Erik hissed at one point.

Antoinette gained an innocent look that was obviously fake, there was too much delight sparkling in her eyes.

"What? I'm telling Nadir my impression of your two helpers. There's nothing wrong with that."

Erik glared at her. "It is when you add outrageous assumptions along with them."

"Hey! They are not outrageous!" Antoinette protested then turned to Nadir. "I'm telling you, the two of them were looking at Erik in more than a friendly way!"

"And I'm telling you that you're wrong!" Erik snapped back. Christine knew that the only reason why Erik allowed his temper to show was because Meg and Darius were in the other room watching TV, which was too loud to hear the sibling's conversation. Rook was also with the children in the other room to watch them. "For God's sake, Antoinette, they are a couple! I told you that weeks ago!"

"Yes, and that remains funny." Antoinette agreed, she turned back to face Erik. "However, I'm want you to be on your guard Erik. They might be a couple, but they paid way too much attention to your actions and I was only there for a few minutes."

"Do we? I never noticed." Raoul remarked as they watched Erik sigh, slumping down in his seat.

Christine shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised. We spent decades watching over him and he has been our focus this whole time. Are you surprised that someone noticed?"

"When you put it like that, no." Raoul replied simply.

Nadir finally cut in after having watched the younger two argue for a while.

"I think it's time that I meet the two, don't you think?"

Erik slammed his head onto the table in front of him at the same time Antoinette let out a squeal of delight.

The next day when Christine was with Erik for their Saturday morning lessons, Erik gave her the warning.

"I want to let you know now because I don't know when it's going to happen, but my brother plans on meeting you and Mr. Lebeau." Erik informed her.

Christine raised her eyebrow at him. "If he's like Antoinette, I'm sure it will be fine."

"That's the thing." Erik hurried to say. "He's not!"

It took a couple weeks for Nadir to finally show up and Christine had to admit that being under the intense gaze of her former friend was uncomfortable. Unlike Antoinette, who was more confrontational, Nadir was an observer, someone who stays quiet in the background that you almost forget their there except for the feeling of being watched. Nadir came and Erik introduced them sheepishly as if waiting for something bad to happen.

Christine and Raoul introduced themselves but Nadir continued to silently watch them, assessing them with his hard eyes.

It took a minute of awkward silence before Erik cleared his throat and take his brother's shoulder in his hand.

"Come on. You're making me as uncomfortable as you're probably making them. Relax, will you?"

Nadir didn't blink at the touch, continuing to stare at Christine and Raoul.

"No," Nadir finally replied to Erik, his eyes not moving. "I want them uncomfortable."

"Okay!" Erik grabbed both of Nadir's shoulders and began pushing him towards the door. "You are leaving if you're going to be like that."

Nadir shrugged but didn't break Erik's hold. "I won't disturb your lesson, I promise."

Erik turned and glanced at Christine. "Only if it's okay with Miss Destler. The last thing I need is for you to make her uncomfortable while she's trying to help me."

Christine hesitated for a moment. She knew that she wasn't going to be comfortable with Nadir staring at her the whole time but she also didn't want to make a bad impression on him either. She knew that Nadir was a kind and gentle man and that he was only putting up this intimidating front to test her and Raoul. With that in mind she decided.

"He can stay."

Christine felt sorry for Raoul as the lesson went on. Christine was able to work with Erik so that caused her enough distraction to forget about Nadir's presence. However, Raoul wasn't so lucky as he had to sit next to the other man on the couch the whole time. By the end of it Raoul was slightly pale.

Erik took notice of that and immediately hurried Christine and Raoul away from his older sibling. Saying his goodbyes and not letting Nadir get any word in.

Christine and Raoul changed back into their ghost forms when they were out of sight and headed back.

"What did he say to you?" She asked him, curious.

Raoul quickly shook his head, his eyes wide. "Not saying."

A little unnerved by what could've happened, Christine didn't push. They entered the building again and saw Erik and Nadir talking while the younger put his things away.

"Look, I know we have that bet going—" Nadir was saying.

"That's still a thing!" Erik interrupted in horror, pausing in his cleaning up to stare at him.

Nadir sent him a scowl. "Yes, don't worry about it. But, Erik, I think Antoinette is right."

Erik shook his head and went back to what he was doing. "You agree with Antoinette?"

"I agree with Antoinette." Nadir repeated.

Erik snorted. "I think you're both delusional."

"Erik I just spent an entire lesson watching you guys. Miss Destler was professional but she also used every opportunity to touch you, even if for a second. I don't think she realized it herself, but she did."

Christine felt her cheeks flush and warm. No, she didn't realize she was doing that.

"And Mr. Lebeau did not take his eyes off of you for one moment, his expression was also telling."

"I doubt you could back that up." Erik argued. "You could not have been watching both of them the whole time."

"No." Nadir agreed. "But I watched them enough."

"I say you both are insane." Erik declared. "But I will try to pay more attention."

Nadir snorted. "You couldn't tell someone is flirting with you if it bit your nose."

Erik glared at him. "I hate you."

"No you don't." Nadir replied fondly with a small grin.

 **Next chapter is down! What you think of it? They finally met the siblings and Erik was rightfully horrified by it.** **Leave me your thoughts in a review! Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. Until next time!**


	9. Ring That Keeps On Coming

Ring That Keeps On Coming

Raoul noticed that Erik observed the two of them more closely after that night, trying to find out if what his siblings said was true. Because of this, Raoul and Christine played down their motions. They didn't want to be rejected by Erik before they got the chance to go after him. Plus it would be funnier when they did finally tell him, his reaction was bound to be priceless. The watching lasted a couple weeks, Erik became satisfied that they didn't harbor any secret emotions towards him and everything went back to normal.

Raoul found it amusing because Nadir had been right when he had said that Erik wouldn't be able to recognize flirtations towards himself. Erik had always been that way. He could accept praise for his work and love from his family but strangers? Nothing. He didn't seem to understand that anyone could want to be with him in a romantic way. And he has been flirted with in the past.

Not often, but there was this one girl in particular when Erik was in high school that made the most effort, however, she did it poorly. She had been one of those, 'I like you, so I'm going to pick on you' persons and had insulted Erik more than praised him. To everyone else, it was obvious what the girl was doing, but Erik never made the connection. He had it pointed out to him by multiple people, multiple times, but Erik remained in denial because of her harsh words. The girl had moved away a year later and Erik paid the affair no mind again.

Part of Raoul had been relieved by that but it had brought thoughts about how things would go in the future. Right now they were being subtle because they didn't want to scare Erik away, but once Erik knew and hopefully accepted, they were going to be a lot more obvious. They knew Erik, which meant they _really_ had to be obvious when the time came.

It happened sooner and later than they had hoped, but once it occurred they hit the ground running.

It was a couple weeks before Erik's birthday and Raoul was walking beside Christine as they trailed behind Erik in their ghost forms. Erik had gotten a call from Antoinette asking him to pick up her dry cleaning since Meg was sick and she needed to stay with her daughter. It wasn't a surprise that Meg was sick, it was that time of the year and the weather certainly didn't help. Raoul was once again grateful for his ghost form as he didn't feel the cold and he didn't have to struggle to get through the icy streets.

Erik walked a few feet ahead in his black trench coat with the hood of his jacket underneath up to keep the wind away. His stride was purposeful and he didn't hesitate anywhere as he made his way through the streets. Raoul saw that Christine had to walk faster than she normally did to keep pace with their third, but they didn't get tired while they were in their ghost forms so Raoul didn't say anything. She would've punched him for teasing her anyway.

Suddenly, Erik began to slow down and Raoul and Christine did as well. Erik eventually came to a stop and paused in the middle of the sidewalk, which caused a couple people to bump into him and get angry retorts as they moved along. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded and people moved around Erik once they realized he had stopped.

Raoul frowned after a few moments when Erik hadn't moved. He went to Erik and saw Christine do the same. However, as they got to him, Erik turned his head and moved to a shop window and looked inside.

"The heck? What's he doing?" Raoul asked Christine and looked up to see that the store in front of them was an antique shop.

Christine shrugged and they went on either side of Erik. Raoul leaned forward to see Erik's expression and saw that he had a dazed look in his eye as his golden eyes focused on something without blinking. It was a look that Raoul recognized all too well. He looked down where Erik was staring and, low and behold, there was Erik's ring sitting in the display case with several other rings.

"Where does this ring come from?" Christine huffed as she saw the ring. "How in the world did it travel across the ocean and end up here?"

"Are you that surprised?" Raoul countered, staring at the golden ring with the onyx gem. "It's gotten to Erik somehow in every life."

"Well yes, but this is kind of ridiculous." Christine sighed. "What's special about this ring that it keeps coming back?"

"Don't ask me." Raoul responded, putting his hands up in an 'I don't know gesture.' "We should probably get Erik moving again. He can't stay in this trance."

"Erik." Christine whispered softly to their third. She reached up and placed her hands on Erik's face, though with them in their ghost form, her hands stopped a few inches away. "Come out Erik. Come back to us."

Erik blinked and his eyes regained their focus. He blinked again and frowned in confusion, like he had just woken up from a dream and didn't know where he was. He placed his hand to his forehead and shook his head. Once he was back to normal, he took another look at the ring and then walked away to get back to his errand.

Raoul and Christine trailed behind him and they walked in silence.

Usually, when the ring appeared in Erik's life, he would always end up owning it. This was the first time Erik was able to leave the ring where it was at. Then again, Raoul had seen that price tag and it was not something that a daycare owner would be able to easily afford. Erik should technically get a discount if not get it for free, he was the original owner after all. However, Raoul knew that Erik couldn't exactly say that. What a conversation that would be! Still, Raoul knew that Erik was supposed to have his ring when it came to him, even if Raoul didn't know why he did. Raoul needed to find a way to get the ring to Erik…

"Oh!" Raoul had an idea. "Erik's birthday is coming up. Why don't we get the ring for Erik as his gift?"

Christine raised her eyebrow at him. "And how exactly do you think we're supposed to get the ring? We don't have money and definitely not what the asking price is. Plus, we can't leave Erik's side, meaning we can't get the ring even if we did have the money."

Raoul shrugged. "When Erik comes back around from the dry cleaner, we can swipe it. Go in our visible forms long enough to grab the ring then turn back into ghosts."

Christine stared at him with wide eyes. "You want us to steal it?!"

"Technically, we wouldn't be the ones stealing since we're returning it to its owner." Raoul pointed out. "If anything, that owner is the thief."

Raoul got an eye roll from his partner.

"We are not doing that. I think it's a good idea about the ring for his birthday, but I have a better way at getting it to him." Christine declared.

Raoul huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, what is it?"

Raoul had to admit that after Christine had told him her idea, it was a good one. They got to work on their plan as soon as they could. They had to wait for Erik to be asleep that night and when he was, they sent the email to Antoinette. Ever since the older woman had given Christine her email, the three of them had been in regular contact, using it as a way to find out more about Erik. Of course, they already knew all the answers to their questions but with Antoinette, they had a reason to explain the things they knew. Christine liked to think that they were friends with Antoinette, but Raoul was a little more wary. He liked Antoinette, he did, but he also knew that the second they did anything to hurt Erik, Antoinette would tear them apart, friendship be damned.

And Nadir would help her.

They sent the email to Antoinette, telling her about the ring and where to find it. When she replied asking why they didn't get it for him, they replied that they thought that such a gift was better from a family member. Antoinette had agreed and asked for a description of the ring. They told her that she would know when she saw it, because if there was one thing that went side by side with Erik's reaction to the ring, it was the recognition by others that the ring belonged to him.

Antoinette also agreed to the next part of their idea, ending her acceptance with one of those winking faces that Raoul knew was her teasing them about what was going to happen on Erik's birthday.

Well, at least they knew that she was okay with it by her reaction.

Days went by and Raoul and Christine made sure that they didn't give anything away towards their plans. They acted normal, or at least they think they did, and it worked enough that Erik never asked any questions. Erik's birthday came and Raoul was glad that it was on a Friday because that gave the older man less time to react for what will happen that night.

The day they acted like it was any other day, for all Erik knew it was just a normal day for them. Though, Raoul had to admit dissatisfaction that Erik didn't bother to tell them that it was his birthday, then again, he never made a big deal about it after he had gotten older ….Nah, Raoul was still disappointed with Erik.

After Erik released Christine at the end of his music class, they followed Erik in their ghost forms to Antoinette's place. As soon as Erik walked through the door, he was tackled by his niece and nephew who screamed "Happy Birthday!" with excitement and glee.

Erik thanked the two of them with a laugh as he pulled Darius's hands off his leg to pick him up and took Meg's hand in his. The two children babbled about what was happening with them since the week before and when they started talking about Erik's gifts, Rook came out and shushed them.

"You're not supposed to say what the gifts are, that's why they are wrapped." Rook scolded the two of them and took Darius from Erik. "Meg, I know you know this by now."

Meg gave a pout. "But this year is so exciting!"

"That doesn't mean you can tell." Rook countered and smiled at Erik. "Happy birthday Erik."

"Thank you." Erik replied with a grin and placed a kiss to Rook's cheek in greeting. "I guess something happened that is different? My little king and pearl seem more eager this year."

Rook grinned at him secretly. "Not telling."

She brought him into the dining room where Antoinette and Nadir were setting up dinner. Both of them went to Erik upon seeing him and said happy birthday. Raoul knew that Erik could see the mischievous gleam in his siblings eyes because his own suddenly turned wary.

Because it was Erik's birthday, Antoinette had made all of his favorites. The dinner was much like their usual ones every week, Erik began to relax and become less suspicious about his siblings intentions because of it. When it was over and they cleaned up, they went to the living room where Erik and Antoinette sat next to each other on the couch, Meg and Darius settled on the floor in front of them and Nadir sat in the chair with Rook on the armrest. Meg and Darius gave their present to Erik. They weren't the ones who bought the new music book, but it had been their idea and Erik showed the appreciation like they did. Nadir than handed Erik his, Rook's and Antoinette's gift and Raoul perked up.

This was it.

Erik took the small square box in hand and raised his eyebrow at his older brother.

"If you're going to propose, shouldn't you be on one knee?"

Nadir leaned forward and shoved at Erik's shoulder, causing the younger to laugh.

"Like you would ever be as good as Rook!"

"True." Erik acknowledged with a chuckle.

Antoinette rolled her eyes. "Just open it."

Erik had a grin on his face as he did, but that smile fell, replaced by a look of shock.

"What the—?"

"I came across it while I was out." Antoinette cut in before Erik began to asked questions. Raoul and Christine had asked for them not to be mentioned. "As soon as I saw it, I knew that it was meant to be yours. Strange, right? Anyway, I had also saw that price tag so Nadir and Rook chipped in to pay for it as well."

Erik stared down at the onyx ring in shock. "This is too expensive of a gift! You shouldn't have!"

"Oh hush." Nadir replied. "It wasn't all that expensive with the three of us paying, besides as soon as we saw it, we knew that we had to get it for you."

"But—" Erik started.

"Ah ah!" Rook interrupted this time, holding a finger up. "Just take the ring Erik, it's our gift to you after all."

Erik looked unsure but there was also a hint of happiness in his eyes. Raoul mentally congratulated himself and Christine, though mostly Christine since it was her idea. It was good to see Erik happy because of something they did.

"Well, go on!" Meg stated from her spot on the floor. "Put it on!"

Erik took out the ring and without hesitation slipped the ring onto his left pinkie finger, where it belonged. Meg made a gesture and Erik held out his hand for her to take to get a closer look.

"So pretty! It's a perfect fit!" Meg gushed, playing with Erik's hand as she looked at the ring.

Erik looked up and met Antoinette, Nadir, and Rook's eyes individually. "Thank you."

The three grinned back at him. "Your welcome."

Antoinette leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Happy birthday Erik."

 **And another chapter for you. Hope you enjoyed it and will leave a review! And yes, there's a reason for the ring coming back. Anyone want to guess? ;) Next chapter will be in Christine's POV. See ya next time!**


	10. The Proposal

The Proposal

"Ready?" Raoul asked Christine, nodding towards the door.

Christine nodded and they walked through the door to turn into their solid forms.

As Raoul raised his hand to knock, he gave her a side glance. "This is make it or break it time."

"I really hope not!" she replied. "Don't make me any more nervous than I already am!"

Raoul shot her a grin and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Antoinette opened the door, her grin turned simply wicked at their appearance.

"Come on in." she greeted cheerfully, moving to the side to let them through.

Christine saw Erik look up from the couch and his eyes widened at when he saw them. He opened his mouth to speak but Antoinette beat him to it.

"I invited them!" she began as she closed the door. "I can't believe you didn't tell them that your birthday was coming up!"

"We don't make such a big deal about it!" Erik protested. "I didn't see a reason too!"

Antoinette came back to the couch and sat down. She pinched Erik's cheeks in disapproval and he jerked back with a scowl.

Christine felt Rook's curious eyes and realized that they hadn't technically met before. She turned to face Rook and smiled.

"Hello, I'm Christine Destler, Erik's music assistant. You must be Rook."

Rook got up from her spot on the armrest and came over to them. She held out her hand, which Christine took.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you. Erik speaks fondly of you." Rook replied then turned to Raoul. "You must be Mr. Lebeau, you help Erik out at the day care."

"That's me." Raoul answered with an attractive smile, he took Rook's hand and bent down to place a kiss on the back of her hand. "Call me Raoul."

"Well aren't you charming, Raoul." Rook replied with a grin once Raoul let go of her hand. "Please, the both of you come sit."

Raoul ended up sitting on the second chair while Christine sat on Erik's other side on the couch. Darius became fascinated Christine's curls and she picked him up so that the child could play with them.

Rook and Antoinette did most of the talking, asking how Raoul and Christine have been doing and things about them. Christine had made sure that the two of them were prepared for such questions, and had practiced answering them with each other until they had their made up lives memorized.

When Erik's family had focused on questioning Raoul, Erik leaned towards her.

"How are you doing?" he whispered quietly for her ears only.

She knew that he was referring to his family's questions and gave a small nod towards Raoul.

"I think they are giving him more trouble than me, but he likes the attention so he'll be fine. I'm also doing good. Your family is kind, Erik."

She heard Erik snort softly. "This is the calm before the storm."

"Soo are you going to tell Erik your surprise or shall I?" Antoinette questioned later with a mischievous grin.

Erik looked up to stare warily at his sister. "What?"

She sent him a grin and looked pointy at Christine and then Raoul. Christine shifted Darius in her arms awkwardly.

"Antoinette told us that your favorite musical was Phantom of the Opera and that you watched it every year for your birthday." Christine started, gaining Erik's attention. Her nerves coming up in the form of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "We asked if we could be the ones go with you."

Erik's eyes widened in surprise but then he frowned in confusion. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Put simply?" Raoul continued from his spot on his chair. "We want to go on a date with you."

It had been Christine's idea to exchange Antoinette and Nadir going to see the famous musical with Erik for the ring present. She knew that they would never be able to get their hands on the ring, but Erik's family could. In a previous email, Antoinette had told them about the famous musical being Erik's favorite and that they went to see it every year. When they had mentioned the ring, they had asked if they could take Erik to the musical that year. Antoinette had been unwilling at first but they were able to persuade her over.

Raoul said his statement so causally that it took a second for Erik to register what had been said. Christine knew the exact moment it clicked though because Erik jerked back in surprise.

"What?" Erik stuttered. He looked backed and forth between her and Raoul. "Aren't the two of you—?"

"Oh we are." Raoul answered the question before Erik finished. "We didn't want to tell you at first since we didn't think it mattered but we're polyamorous."

They weren't since they were only interested in and only ever will be interested in Erik, but they couldn't exactly say that. Polyamorous was the best term they could find that would explain both of them wanting to be with Erik. It worked well enough.

Antoinette cackled while Erik gapped at Raoul.

"This is perfect! I didn't know that was the reason why you wanted to take him!" Antoinette clapped her hands in delight. She poked Erik's cheek, which made him blink and come out of his stupor. "You going, you know."

"What? You can't make that decision!" Erik objected.

Christine grinned inwardly. Erik was such a different person when his siblings got him riled up.

"When's the last time you've been on a date?" Nadir joined in, making Erik turn to him with a betrayed look.

"That has nothing to do with things." Erik countered.

Nadir shrugged.

"Oh! That reminds me." Raoul stated while straightening up.

He slid from the chair he sat on and got on his knees. He placed his fist to his chest and in a dramatic motion bowed to Nadir and Antoinette. Christine knew that he was fighting a smirk.

"With your permission. Christine and I would like to start courting Erik."

Erik spluttered, his full face pink. "You don't have to ask for permission!"

"Oh yes they do!" Antoinette replied cheerfully. She covered Erik's mouth with her hand as he began to protest again and he glared at her. She gave him a cheeky grin. "What do you think Nadir? A date is one thing, but courting? I don't know. Think these two are worthy of courting our younger brother?"

Christine turned her head to look at the eldest and found that he had the smallest grin on his lips, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Nadir was the more serious one of Erik's siblings, but that did not mean that he didn't also have moments where he liked to mess with his younger brother.

"I don't see why not. It'll be interesting to watch at the very least."

Antoinette grinned.

"I agree." She turned to Christine and Raoul. "Okay, you have our permission."

That was when Erik pushed Antoinette's hand off with an unamused scowl. "Oh come on! What is this, the 19th century?"

Well, that was where they were from, Christine thought.

"I think it's a great idea." Rook cut in. She wore a gentle smile with a lack of amusement that made it look far more sincere then Erik's siblings. "It shows that they are being more serious about this. Right?"

Rook gave Raoul and Christine a look to which they both quickly nodded.

The statement made Erik pause, long enough for Raoul to make his way over to him. On his knees. Erik's face turned darker red as he watched and Christine knew that Raoul was having too much fun making Erik flustered. They did agree that once they decided to start showing Erik, they were going to make it as obvious as possible, lest Erik didn't believe them.

Raoul stopped in front of Erik and lifted one leg so that he was kneeling on one knee instead of both. He did allow a grin to come on his face but when he grabbed Erik's hand, his left where the ring was on, his face turned serious and sincere. He placed a hand on his chest for good measure and widened his eyes.

"Erik, would you do Christine and I the honor of allowing us to court you? At the very least, take you out to see your favorite musical?"

Christine waited next to the silent Erik. He stared at Raoul, who steadily stared back patiently waiting for a response. Erik was blushing and looked uncomfortable with the stare but didn't break it. Looking at the two of them was interesting because Raoul had come so far from their first life. He had not only forgiven Erik's actions in that life but he had also come to fall in love with him. Doing that seem to have taken the years away from his personality and appearance, making Christine remember the young man she had fallen in love with all the those years ago.

It was beautiful to see him do it towards their shared love.

When Erik remained silent, Nadir broke it.

"Erik, you don't have to go with them if you don't want too." Nadir told him. The uncertainty coming into his eyes in response to Erik's obvious discomfort. He liked to tease his younger brother but not when it made him distraught. If he believed that this affair would continue to make Erik uncomfortable, he would immediately put a stop to it.

Let it never be said, that Nadir did not go into protective big brother mode when Erik was in distress, no matter what the topic is.

Christine hoped that this wouldn't turn out to be one of those times. Luckily, it didn't get that far.

At Nadir's statement, Erik gained an unsure look and Christine felt her heart leap in hope. The moment of hesitation in time and his expression allowed Antoinette to pounce.

"Ah ha!" she explained with a triumphant grin and threw her arm around Erik's shoulders. "You do want to go! Now you really have no choice!"

Before Erik could get riled up again, Christine grabbed the hand that wasn't in Raoul grip, careful of the fact that Darius was in her lap. She didn't want Erik to say no to spite Antoinette, which was a real possibility. Even if he wanted to do something, he would say no just to annoy his sister. He has done it multiple times in the past.

At the touch of her hand, Erik turned towards her, startled. That wasn't too surprising since she had been acting more like an observer than participator in the discussion.

"Erik." She began firmly. "It's up to you. We would really like for you to let us date, but we'll understand if you say no. We'll go back to how things were before and not mention this again. We hope that you won't, but the last thing we want is for you to feel like you were forced to go."

Erik relaxed the tiniest fraction and she could see that he was subtly biting his lip which made her mentally grin. He only did that when his hands were busy and was thinking about accepting something. A habit that he had gained by accident from Christine.

After a moment, he must have realized what he was doing, because he forced himself to stop biting his lip. Then he shrugged.

"Okay." He finally announced simply.

Christine smiled in relief, a breath of air escaping her lungs. She had not realized she had been holding her breath until that moment. She heard Raoul also sigh and Erik raised his eyebrow at them, having heard the relief. He opened his mouth to speak but lunged forward almost knocking into Raoul in the process.

"Yes!" Antoinette cheered as she rested on top of Erik's back, her being the reason he had gone forward. "Alright! Our little brother is going on a date!"

"Get off me!" Erik exclaimed in irritation, pulling both of his hands from Raoul and Christine to push himself up.

Antoinette laughed but got off of him.

Christine couldn't help but smile. Erik had agreed to the date, and she was excited about it. Things were going well for them, she just hoped that this continued.

 **And there we go! I hope you enjoyed that little scene. Because the next chapter, the siblings are going to get extremely serious. ;) Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. Leave a review and see you next time!**


	11. Shovel Talk

Shovel Talk

The next day, Raoul watched Christine go help Erik for his morning music class and it was amusing. Raoul had to admit that Erik was great at separating business from pleasure, making no remark or implication towards their date later that night. He greeted Christine the same way he always did and as soon as his first student came, his focus was entirely on them. Christine had expected this and returned the professionalism in kind, which Raoul thought that Erik was relieved about. Raoul watched the two of them for the morning, Erik taught while Christine helped. Erik had grown used to using her to demonstrate what he needed to be done. He used to do it, but Raoul thinks he stopped doing it as much because he started to see Christine as his student as well and students needed to practice.

Christine had agreed when Raoul had told her his thoughts. She replied that it was fun being under Erik's instruction again, even if it was indirectly. The only downside was that they didn't get to hear Erik's voice as much anymore. And they both knew that anything Christine could do, Erik could do better.

When the lessons ended and the last student was picked up, Christine took Erik by surprise by giving the man a sneaky peck on his cheek. Erik stared at her startled, but she grinned back and told him that she'll see him tonight. While Christine left the building to change back into her ghost form, Raoul stayed and watched as Erik lifted his hand to his cheek where Christine had kissed him. His cheeks were a pleasant pink and when Erik brought his hand down to cover his mouth, Raoul could tell that behind that hand was a grin.

Maybe things will work out after all.

Since it was Saturday, Erik went out and did his weekly errands before returning to his apartment. As soon as he walked in, he was grabbed, alarming Raoul for a second before relaxing when he saw who it was.

"There you are! Where have you been?! Did you forget that you had a date tonight?!" Antoinette exclaimed.

"Antoinette!" Erik yelped as his older sister grabbed him by his shoulder and dragged him more into his apartment. "The bags!"

"Oh, give them to Meg, she'll put them away." Antoinette dismissed. "Meg!"

Meg came from the kitchen and grinned upon seeing the sight. She hurried over to them and took the bags from Erik's hands. As soon as his hands were free, Antoinette dragged him towards his room.

"You are going to shower and get all cleaned up. Meg and I will pick out your outfit." Antoinette declared firmly.

"Really, my dear—"

"Nope!" Antoinette cut off, holding her index finger up for emphasis. "We're in charged right now."

Erik gave her an exasperated look. "I'm a grown man, I think I can pick out what to wear for a date, especially to a place that I have been to many times."

"Okay, when's the last time you were on a date?" Antoinette countered innocently.

Erik scowled and she grinned. She went to him and cupped his face in her hands.

"I want to help, Erik. Let me do it." She asked gently, her expression sincere.

Raoul knew the exact moment Erik gave in. His golden eyes softened and he relaxed into her touch with a sigh through his nose.

"When have I ever denied you something you truly wanted?" Erik asked.

Antoinette grinned and used her grip on his face to bring his head down to kiss his forehead. She pulled away and playfully patted his cheeks once.

"Go take a shower. Meg and I have work to do."

Erik rolled his eyes, but his posture was more unperturbed than previously. He backed away from his sister and went into his bathroom to do as she asked.

Later that night, Raoul and Christine were standing in front of the door to Erik's apartment in their solid forms, dressed appropriately for the occasion. It was nice to already know what Erik was wearing for them to use. It helped to give them an idea on what to wear themselves.

However, they were hesitating.

The nerves of their first date with Erik had finally kicked in and they were not being merciful. Raoul could feel his heart beat fast in his chest that was definitely not a normal speed. He would say that the speed was equal to the flap of butterfly wings currently in his stomach. It also didn't help that Antoinette had remained with Erik and Nadir had shown up half an hour before their meet up time and Raoul knew the exact reason for that.

The older siblings were going to want to talk to them. In a very specific way.

Raoul was not looking forward to that and knew that neither was Christine. But he also knew that to get to Erik, they had to overcome the obstacles and the siblings were one of them. To put it simply, Nadir was the impenetrable fortress while Antoinette was the dragon guarding it. Right at the center was Erik.

Raoul sighed and gave Christine what was hopefully an encouraging grin. "Ready?"

Christine returned the grin, though her eyes shone with her nerves. "As I'll ever be."

Raoul knocked on the door and they waited. They heard a thud and shared a look at each other in question. The door opened and a breathless Antoinette was the one to answer, which was interesting since it was Erik's apartment. Where was he?

"Hello! Come on in!"

"The hell, Antoinette?!" Erik's irritated voice came from inside.

Raoul walked pass the door and saw the reason for Erik's tone. The older man was on the floor a few feet away from the door. He stood up and brushed himself off, all the while glaring at Antoinette, who gave him a sheepish smile.

"I didn't mean to push you hard enough to fall. Sorry." She apologized.

Ah, so that was the thud they heard, Raoul thought.

"You can't blame your sister for being eager, Erik." Nadir called from his position on the couch.

"She could've asked." Erik mumbled darkly, then faced Raoul and Christine. "You two ready?"

Raoul began to nod but Antoinette grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room hard enough that he almost stumbled.

"Erik, be the darling that you are and wait outside. We want to talk to Miss Destler and Mr. Lebeau real quick." Antoinette stated sweetly.

Raoul had to hold back a shudder at the gleam in Antoinette's eyes.

Unfazed, Erik raised his eyebrow at her in disbelief. "You think I don't know what you are going to do? I would rather you not traumatize them before we go out. I want to enjoy this night you know."

"And you will." Nadir assured, standing up from the couch to make his way over. "It'll only be a moment. We promise."

Erik squinted at his siblings and opened his mouth to protest again. Christine stopped him by grabbing onto his hand. Raoul didn't want to be left alone in the room with Erik's siblings without him, but they knew that this was the first test and they couldn't back down from it.

"It's fine Erik. Go wait in the hall, we'll be with you shortly." Christine guaranteed.

Erik sighed in defeat, but did as she asked. He went to his door and walked out, closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Raoul felt a shift in the air. The room itself seem to have darken by the tension that now engulfed the room. Raoul heard Christine gulp next to him and couldn't help but agree with the motion.

Raoul's wrist remained in Antoinette's grip, which had tighten, not enough to hurt, but Raoul felt the warning behind it nonetheless.

"We said that this will be quick so let's make this simple." Nadir began, coming to stand next to Antoinette, his voice low and threatening. He was the same height as Raoul, but at that moment, he seemed tower over him.

"You hurt Erik, I'll destroy you, and Nadir will make sure no one finds out about it." Antoinette finished with the same tone and presence. "Simple, yes?"

Raoul quickly nodded and knew that Christine was did the same.

They had seen the two siblings do this to other people before, but it was an entire other thing to have it done towards them. Raoul had to force back the trembles his body wanted to do. And he had thought Erik was terrifying in their first life and that Erik had wanted to kill him. Raoul now knew that it was nothing towards a protective Nadir and Antoinette towards this Erik.

"Good!" Antoinette suddenly smiled brightly as she released Raoul's wrist.

The atmosphere became light again, like a light switch was turned on. Nadir and Antoinette acted like they didn't just threaten Raoul and Christine. Nadir took a step back while Antoinette reached up and smooth Raoul's shirt down.

"Now off you go, you have a date to get to!" Antoinette cheered with a wink.

Raoul heard Christine hurry towards the door and he followed right after her. She opened the door and he closed it, both leaning back on the wall, shaken.

"Now do you believe me?" Raoul heard Erik's voice and looked up to see him leaning against the other wall with his arms crossed, his golden eyes focused on them.

"We definitely see what you mean." Christine breathed.

Erik nodded and pushed off the wall. "I suggest we get going before one of them checks to see if we are still here."

"Yeah, okay! Let's go!" Raoul agreed too hastily. He knew that Erik noticed when he gave him an amused smirk.

 **And there's another, had to make Nadir and Antoinette threaten them of course! But next chapter is the date scene and it'll be in Raoul's POV. Leave a review and see ya next time!**


	12. The Date

The Date

They got to the theatre later than they planned because of traffic, but with enough time to relax until the show started. Raoul and Christine purposely made Erik sit in between them, something that the musician noticed with an entertained smirk, but didn't protest the sitting arrangement. They talked quietly to each other as they waited, going on about mundane things, but Raoul found himself perfectly content with the subjects.

The show began, the lights faded out around the auditorium until it was only the stage lights, and the audience hushed as the curtains opened.

Raoul has long since gotten used to the musical about their lives. He would sometimes think it was strange, but tried to remember that to everyone else on the planet, the musical was nothing more than a work of fiction. Because of this, he learned to enjoy the music and effects of the musical. It was an impressive stage set up, especially the Phantom's lair. Raoul wondered what the mechanics were behind the scenes that allowed for such spectacular settings to be created on stage.

He couldn't say that he was a fan of the story though. He knew that Christine both loved and hated the musical because while it was a beautiful piece, she hated how it reminded her of how much she had broken Erik's heart in their first lives. Raoul couldn't fault her for her regret, yet she has protested multiple times that she didn't feel such things. She had chosen Raoul in that first life and she had been happy. He had no doubt that what she said was true, but he thinks that she was too hard on herself by not allowing herself to feel regret in the smallest amount. She shouldn't blame herself for the mistakes they made in that life. Erik had been insane and it caused Christine to flee from him, but they were given this second chance where they were free to love the Erik that was a true representation of his soul.

In Raoul's opinion, he thinks things turned out for the better.

The 'Christine' and 'Phantom' had notable voices, but in Raoul's opinion they would never measure up to the real thing. He didn't bother to have an opinion on the man who played him, because that would be a little too awkward.

At the end, during the Final Lair scene, Raoul noted the 'Phantom's' deformity. Over the years, the makeup for it seemed to have gotten more and more exaggerated. Maybe it was for the audience who sat in the back to be able to see, but Raoul couldn't help but think that it was overly done. He supposed that it did its job at astonishing the audience but it wasn't like Erik's real deformity anymore.

At the end, the final music note played out and the applause began the second after it faded. Raoul stood up with Christine and Erik to clap with them as the cast came out to bow. The loudest, of course was for the man who played the 'Phantom.' The curtains soon closed and the lights in the auditorium came on. People around them began to gather their things and make their way out.

The three of them lingered because they were in the middle of their row.

"Heartless!" Christine suddenly stated with mock offense, pointing at Raoul.

Raoul blinked. "What?"

Christine placed her hands on her hips. "You don't have a single tear stain on your cheek. Completely heartless."

Raoul noticed that Christine had such tear tracks on both cheeks and turned to Erik who had one.

"I got misty eyed." Raoul protested.

"But you didn't cry! Anyone who doesn't shed a tear for that final scene is heartless." Christine countered.

Raoul rolled his eyes and turned to Erik. "Am I heartless?"

Erik gave him a playful smirk. "Well…"

Raoul scoffed and threw up his hands. "Whatever, fine. I'm heartless."

Erik and Christine laughed and followed Raoul out of their row. Once they were outside and began walking back, Erik went to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"We were only teasing. Please, don't be annoyed."

Raoul grinned and took Erik's hand off his shoulder but didn't let go. "I know, it's okay."

Erik flushed a slight pink as Raoul held his hand and it got pinker when Christine came from his other side and took hold of the other. Raoul found Erik's flustered expression to be one of the most adorable sights he has ever seen.

"Ah, did you enjoy the musical?" Erik offered, obviously trying to avoid the fact that the three of them were holding hands.

"I loved it." Christine sighed dreamily. "I can't pick a favorite song. There were too many great ones, however I think your voice would have been a lot better for them."

"Hey, there's an idea." Raoul stated with a grin. "Erik, you should sing for us."

Erik raised his eyebrow. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Because it's fun and we haven't gotten to hear you sing much. We know you're great though." Raoul countered.

"Yeah!" Christine joined in since she wanted to her Erik sing just as much as Raoul did. "Please, Erik? We'll sing with you."

Raoul blinked and Erik blinked right after him.

"Wait, we'll what?" Raoul asked.

Christine sent him a smile. "We'll sing too. It wouldn't be fair to ask Erik to sing, but do nothing in return."

"Can you sing?" Erik questioned to him with a thoughtful frown.

Raoul felt his cheeks flushed and looked away. "I, ah, am decent. Nothing compared to you two."

"He sings well enough." Christine grinned. "Will you sing for us Erik?"

Erik shrugged. "I guess, if the two of you are willing, I see no problem."

"Great! I'll start, then Raoul will join in and then you, okay?" Christine instructed waiting for both men to nod their acceptance. She cleared her throat and then opened her mouth to sing.

 _No more talk of darkness, forget these wide eye fears_

 _I'm here, nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you._

As soon as Raoul heard the first words Christine sung, he knew the song and the reason why she picked it. Turning away to hide a grin, he listened to his partner sing beautifully and when she paused, he knew that it was his turn.

 _Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears_

 _I'm here, with you, beside you, To guard you and to guide you._

Raoul stopped and turned to glance at Erik, who looked both put out and amused.

"You want me to sing 'Christine's' part?" he asked, his lip twitching.

"Well, we are the ones courting you after all. Wouldn't it be you?" Raoul replied.

Erik raised his eyebrow at him. "I haven't actually agreed to that part, only tonight's date."

"Yes, but you will." Christine grinned.

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because you had fun tonight." Raoul answered. They had learned all of Erik's tells and how to read him. Perk of having watched over him his whole life.

Erik's lips twitched, telling Raoul that he was fighting a smile. However, he did open his mouth and began to sing.

 _Say you'll love me every waking moment, Turn my head with talk of summertime._

 _Say you need me with now and always, Promise that all you say is true._

 _That's all I ask of you_

Ah, it's been a while since Raoul has heard Erik's voice sing outside a music lesson. He hadn't realized how much he had missed hearing it. His voice had always had a hypnotizing factor, this moment was no different.

 _Let me be your shelter,_ Christine sang.

 _Let me be you light, your safe no one will find you,_ Raoul sang then let Christine take the next line.

 _Your fears are far behind you_

 _All I want is freedom, A world with no more night_

 _With you, always beside me, To hold me and to hide me_

Raoul took a couple steps to get in front of them, holding onto Erik's hand, he used his free one to extend it outwards as he sang the next part. He had an idea as to why Christine had picked this song in the first place and wanted to make sure Erik understood it.

 _Than say you'll share with us, one love, one lifetime._

Yep, Erik's eyes widened at the small change to the lyrics. He noticed.

 _Let us lead you from your solitude._

 _Say you'll need us with you, here beside you._

 _Anywhere you go, let us go too._

Christine sang with a pleased smile. Raoul had been right. He hadn't realized just how much the lyrics of the song could be used and make complete sense with Erik singing 'Christine's' part. Their past life, Erik had wanted to be save from his loneliness. They had not been able to help him then, but they will make sure they do it now.

As Christine sung with the replaced words, Erik slowed down his stride, probably from his shock but Raoul was able to keep him moving since he was ahead and Christine joined him by his side. Together they kept Erik walking.

Raoul joined his voice with hers and they sung the next line together.

 _Erik, that's all we ask of you._

And if Raoul had thought that Erik's singing voice was the most beautiful thing he has ever heard, it was nothing compared to his laughter. The pure sound of delight warmed Raoul's chest and made his heart skip a beat. He hadn't heard such a happy sound from Erik in years.

 _Say you'll share with me, one love, one lifetime_

 _Say the word and I will follow you._

Raoul and Christine merged their voices with Erik's.

 _Share each day with me, each night each morning._

 _Say you love me,_ Erik sang, his lips twitching again as he tried to keep a straight face.

 _You know we do,_ Raoul answered easy enough with Christine.

 _Love me, that's all I ask of you._

At the last note, Erik began to chuckle again. He pulled his hands from their grip and pressed them to his face, partly slouching forward from his laughter. His shoulders were also vibrating from it.

"Hey, I don't think we did that badly." Raoul protested with a pout, though he knew that wasn't the reason why Erik was laughing.

Erik snickered behind his hands and shook his head. He lifted his head with a half sigh, half chuckle and looked at the two of them. By now they were a street away from Erik's apartment and Raoul was disappointed that they were going to have to visibility leave Erik soon, but didn't let it show.

"The two of you are ridiculous, completely absurd." Erik stated with a grin.

Raoul shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You would." Christine stated fondly.

Raoul gave her a small push and she laughed. They went back to Erik and took his hands in theirs again. They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence but Raoul knew he had a silly grin on his face. Erik hadn't had any form of a negative emotion towards what they did with the song. He had laughed and played along. Raoul saw that as a great sign. Maybe Erik didn't think they were completely serious with it, but the fact that he didn't deny them either showed promise.

They got to Erik's building where both of them were able to give Erik a kiss on his cheek, the slight pink blush coming back to his face. With those goodbyes, Erik turned and began to walk towards the building's entrance.

Not wanting to let Erik go without one last thing, Raoul called his name.

"Erik," Raoul called out and waited until Erik faced them again. "We meant it. We made those changes on purpose."

Erik blinked at them in surprise at the open admission but then his eyes sparkled as he grin.

"Yes, I know. And I'm looking forward to what you two have in mind in the future."

Raoul straightened with hope. "Does that mean…?"

Erik smirked. "Take it as you will. Goodnight you two, see you Monday."

And with that, Erik opened his door and went inside.

"He…he agreed to let us court him! That was a yes right? Please say that it was a yes!" Raoul turned to Christine.

"It was a yes!" Christine cheered, clapping her hands together once in delight.

Excited, Raoul tugged her to him and placed a short but sweet kiss on her lips. She melted into the kiss and he did the same, both high from happiness. When he pulled back, they had twin smiles.

They had their third partner to court.

 **This might sound bad because I'm the writer, but I really love this chapter! I hoping that you did too, because writing it was fun! They finally went on their date! I'm all fuzzy now. Anyway, next chapter will be in Christine's POV and don't forget to leave a review! See ya next time!**


	13. Snowed In

**I had a guest review, and since the site doesn't allow me to reply directly to them, here's there answer: In this particular story, Erik's not wearing a mask. And I don't base him on any one specifically I just write how I think he would be if he lived in modern times without the terrible past.**

 **On with the chapter!**

Snowed In

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Raoul exclaimed next to Christine and she couldn't help but agree.

They were currently in their ghost forms watching Erik wrap himself in his heaviest clothes to get ready to leave his apartment. The problem wasn't what Erik was doing, the problem was when he was doing it. Outside, Christine could see the snow fall heavily from her viewpoint by the window. The news had told everyone to stay inside because of it and yet, here was Erik, dressing to leave.

Christine wondered if some of Erik's first life insanity had trailed down into this life's.

Erik's phone buzzed, alerting every one that he received a message. Erik opened his phone to read it and Christine saw that it was a message from Antoinette, arguing that he shouldn't go outside. Of course, Erik just put his phone back in his pocket and grabbed his keys. He walked out the door and Christine and Raoul followed after him.

"He's probably worried about Ayesha. You know how he gets towards animals." Christine offered as they trailed behind their insane third.

Raoul sighed in irritation. "That damn cat. If Erik gets sick from this I'm entirely blaming the cat."

Ayesha was a stray Siamese cat that Erik had found a month ago in the streets. Erik had spotted the thin, freezing cat in an alleyway and had taken upon himself to make sure that the stray was provided for. It had taken a week for the cat to be comfortable enough for Erik to take her with him and has since been the feisty mascot at the daycare. The children loved the cat, and she loved the attention, however her favorite human was obviously Erik since she followed him around everywhere.

What had shocked the two of them when Ayesha had first come into their lives, was the fact that she could tell that they were there in their ghost forms.

"What are you looking at, Ayesha?" Erik had questioned fondly one day.

Christine had been in her ghost form because it was during the day care hours and was frozen when she saw that Ayesha was staring right at her. For a moment, she had thought that she had accidently shifted into her solid form but then Erik had spoken and Raoul looked at her in surprise.

Luckily, Erik had left the room shortly after and Ayesha broke her gaze to follow him. Raoul had stayed behind for a few moments.

"Wow, it is true what they say. Animals really can see more than humans." Raoul stated softly, his eyes slightly wide.

"As long as she doesn't do it all the time, it should be fine." Christine added.

After that first time, Ayesha reacted to them a few more times before acting like they were any other presence in the room, visible or not. That was a relief to Christine and Raoul.

Overall, Christine didn't mind the cat, however, Raoul did. He refused to call Ayesha by her name, instead only referring her as 'cat' or, if he was annoyed, 'damn cat.'

"The cat takes a lot of Erik's attention away." Raoul had grumbled when she had asked him why he didn't like Ayesha.

Christine had laughed. "You're jealous of a cat?!"

Raoul shrugged, but he gained a small smirk on his lips. "Yeah, I guess I am. I refuse to believe you aren't either."

"Okay, maybe a little." Christine conceded. "But she's a cat Raoul, I don't think she's that much of a competition for us. Things are going well."

And things have been going well. For the past few weeks, they had been able to demonstrate to Erik how much they cared for him. Of course, they didn't do anything when they were working, but they were able to sneak in a small gesture or line. Erik didn't always pick up on all of them, but when he did, his responding blush was charming. Not that Erik was only a blushing recipient, oh no, sometimes he gave as good as they did. It wasn't as often, but there have been a number of times that he was able to stump her and Raoul with just a line and a couple times, a word, leaving them flushed and him walking away with a pleased smirk.

Christine was sure that Raoul and Erik had turned it into a competition between them. They certainly seemed to try to up one another in a battle of words, Christine was fine with remaining away from _that_ particular game. She was more than content with the soft looks and touches her and Erik shared when she found the opportunity to make them. As of yet, Erik hasn't started any gestures but he always returned them willingly, which was enough for Christine. Well, at least at the moment. Christine knew that she had to be patient, they loved him, but he did not return those feelings and everything went off his pace. She had waited this long, she wasn't about to ruin things. Her only hope was that he would come to love them soon.

The factor of Erik's asexuality had come up within the first week of the beginning of their courting.

"Before things get too serious." Erik had started awkwardly while the three of them were talking in between Erik's daycare and music lessons. "There's something that the two of should know first."

"Is it about the fact that you're asexual?" Raoul had cut in.

Erik had startled and looked at them with wide eyes. "How did you—"

"Antoinette told us." Christine answered. It was the truth, the day after the musical, they had received an email from the woman and told them about it. There was also another threat hidden between the lines, but Christine and Raoul had chosen to ignore that particular part.

At the mention of his sister, Erik had rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh. "Of course she did."

"We don't mind you know." Christine continued. "We understand what it means and are fine with that. You set your limits and we'll accept them."

Erik blinked and remained silent for a moment. Then he smiled. "Alright."

The next day, Erik had begun his word war with Raoul.

When Erik opened the door to his daycare, a loud meow was immediately heard from the inside. Christine watched Erik hurry inside and shut the door behind him. Ayesha popped her head out from a pile of stuff animals in the corner of the room and jumped out to go to Erik.

"Hello darling." Erik greeted with a tender smile.

Ayesha meowed back her greeting and ran in between Erik's legs as he made his way over to the kitchen. He checked her food and water and then went to the thermostat. Christine couldn't feel the cold in her ghost form but she knew that it was chilly inside the daycare because Erik rubbed his hands together ferociously after he had taken his gloves off once he had entered the building.

Erik turned the thermostat up and Christine heard the heater kick in. He went into main room and picked up the remote and turned on the news. The broadcast was talking about the weather and cautioned for everyone to say indoors and try to stay warm. Erik let out a sigh and placed the remote back down with the TV still on. Ayesha jumped onto his lap when he sat down in one of the chairs and started to stroke her back.

"Guess, I'll be here for a while." Erik mumbled, half to Ayesha, half to himself.

It was a good twenty minutes later before Raoul cracked.

"Okay, that's it!" Raoul exclaimed abruptly, causing Christine to jump.

"What?" she questioned in surprised as she watched Raoul stand up and head to the wall.

"We're going to do something." Was all Raoul said before he walked through the wall.

With a confused frown, Christine got up and followed where Raoul had disappeared. When she came through the wall she was suddenly assaulted by Raoul's curses. Her eyes widen as she took in Raoul's appearance, having gone into solid form and was bundled up under layers of clothes.

"This cold is insane! I don't miss this at all!" Raoul huffed as he pulled his beanie further down on his head.

"What are you doing?!" Christine asked.

"Finding a reason to be with Erik in our solid forms. Come on." Raoul answered.

Christine hesitated for a second before going into her solid form. The cold wind blew against her instantly and she jerked at the harshness of the brisk weather. Her nose already becoming a red and frozen point on her face.

Raoul nodded and gestured towards the front. "Let's go."

Christine followed him and let Raoul be the one to bang on the door. His irritation visible in his expression and the power behind his knock. She saw Erik's head jerk up at the sound and his eyes widened as he saw them. He quickly put Ayesha on the floor and came to the door.

As soon as the door was unlocked, Raoul burst inside the room, shaking off the layer of snow that had already piled on top of him. Christine entered from behind him and Erik closed the door.

"What are you two doing here?" Erik asked as he watched them removed the snow.

"Us? What about you?!" Raoul countered with a squint in Erik's direction. "What in the world made you go outside in this crazy weather?"

"I was worried about Ayesha. I had left the building too cold for her." Erik replied easily, crossing his arms over his chest. "You?"

"You also caused someone to worry. Antoinette told us you were coming here." Christine answered, the lie coming easily.

"I doubt she told you to come here."

Raoul shrugged. "No she didn't, but would you really think that we wouldn't have come?"

Erik sighed and shook his head. "You shouldn't have come out in this weather."

"Well, you shouldn't have either, guess we're even." Raoul refuted.

Erik didn't reply to that, and soon the three of them were relaxing on the floor and mindlessly talking to each other. Ayesha, of course, was one again curled up on Erik's lap. Christine offered the suggestion of them playing a game to pass the time and Erik told her she could to go pick one from the game closet. Christine did and returned with Monopoly in her hands.

At the sight, Raoul's eyes gained a spark. "Oh it is so on! Both of you are going down!"

"Raoul, you've never played before!" Christine laughed as she set the board game down in front of them.

"So!" Raoul pouted. "I know the basics enough to crush the both of you!"

Erik raised his eyebrow at him. "You've truly never played this game."

Raoul and Christine shook their heads and Erik smirked. "Allow me to teach the two of you then."

Erik really did teach them the right way. A more competitive person would use their lack of knowledge to give them the edge, but Erik wasn't like that. He explained everything patiently and when they began the game, the three were more or less on equal footing.

Because Raoul had said that he would beat them, Christine offered a temporary alliance with Erik to beat Raoul. Raoul had protested but Erik agreed, much to Raoul's dismay. He was easily beaten out and sulked for the rest of the game. Christine was barely able to beat Erik, a chance die roll, but Erik accepted his defeat.

"You have learned everything that can be taught. The pupil has defeated the master." Erik remarked gravely, making Christine and Raoul laugh.

When they were well into their second game, things took a turn for the worse.

The lights flickered above their head and as they looked up to watch them, they turned off completely and stayed off.

Erik frowned. "Well, that's not good. Wait here."

He placed a protesting Ayesha on the floor next to him and stood up. He walked out of the room to where Christine knew he had the generator. Outside the snow was continuing to go strong and Christine could already fill a chill in the air from the heater shutting down as well. Erik came back a few minutes and the grim look on his face was answer enough to their unspoken question.

"Ah man, I hate the cold." Raoul grumbled.

"Hopefully the power outage won't last too long. In the meantime, I have blankets we could use to keep ourselves warm. I suggest we also put back on all our coats." Erik instructed.

He went back out and soon returned with a large stack of blankets. Christine, now dressed up in all her winter clothes again, went to him to help lay out the blankets.

"You know, they say that the best way to stay warm is body heat." Raoul remarked so causally that Christine blinked in confusion before realizing what he was suggesting.

"This isn't the time to be messing around Raoul." Christine rolled her eyes as she unraveled another blanket.

Raoul smirked. "Who said I was joking."

Christine felt her cheeks warm and refused to look back towards Erik to see how he reacted to such an offer. Erik was quiet for a few moments behind her but then spoke.

"I doubt we're that desperate as of yet, Mr. Lebeau, and I would rather not have such circumstances occur for that to be seriously considered." Erik stated calmly.

Raoul shrugged. "I guess you have a point there."

The building got colder and colder but they were easily able to keep themselves warm with all the blankets. They also huddled together in the corner of the room. Erik had wanted Christine to be in the middle but she protested and argued with him until he gave up and took the middle. Christine appreciated the thought, she really did, however unlike her, Erik could get sick. Erik's hands had already begun to shake as they had been unraveling the blankets and she refused to let Erik sacrifice his health when he didn't need to.

"The sandwich filling between our bread." Raoul had joked.

Erik dropped his head in his hands, whether out of embarrassment or irritation, Christine did not know, probably a little of both.

They spent an hour without power, huddled together to keep warm, Ayesha lying underneath the blanket in Erik's arms. Christine could feel Erik's body trembling the slightest bit as they waited and she got more and more concern as time passed. She could tell that Raoul was also worried because he stopped his jokes and focused on pressing his body as close to Erik as possible to keep him warm. Christine did the same on the other side.

When the lights finally flickered back on and Christine heard the heater kick in, she let out a mental sigh of relief. Christine instantly pulled Erik up and dragged him to stand in front of the heater vent to warm up. It took a while, but eventually he stopped shivering.

The snow outside had stopped and the sun was even peeking out from behind its gray blanket of clouds.

"You are going to go home and get straight into bed. I also want you to text Antoinette or Nadir to have them check on you." Christine ordered firmly to Erik. "If you get sick, I'm going to be annoyed with you."

Erik snorted gently but nodded his consent. Christine leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Raoul came up from behind him and pecked his other cheek.

Erik said goodbye to Ayesha and locked the place up. He headed back with Christine and Raoul behind him in there visible forms before shifting to follow after him in their ghosts forms.

Their third was a little crazy in this life, but it was a good crazy. One that made Christine love him all the more for it.

 **Here's it is. It's a little late, but only by a day. Yesterday was exhausting for me! Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter. If you did, be sure to leave me a review! Next chapter will be in Christine's POV. See ya next time!**


	14. In Sickness, Confessions Lie

In Sickness, Confessions Lie

Erik ended up getting a fever that night. Christine wasn't pleased and Raoul blamed the 'damn cat.'

She should have known that Erik was going to get sick when he came back to his apartment appearing exhausted enough that he looked like he was going to fall over any moment. He practically collapsed onto his bed. He laid face down on the bed for a few moments then he reached down into his pocket and took out his phone. He sent a text to Antoinette and Nadir, letting them know that he was back. He placed the phone face down on the mattress next to him and when it buzzed to tell him that he got a message, he ignored it. With a sigh, he turned his head and pressed his face into the pillow.

"What is he trying to do? Suffocate himself?" Raoul remarked with an amused spark in his eye when Erik didn't move for a few moments.

Christine rolled her eyes and went to sit on the floor next to the bed. "He's tired."

She saw the Erik's phone buzz again and then again a few moments later. With an irritated huff, Erik turned his head and grabbed his phone, unlocking it to view the messages. Christine watched Erik squint at the screen after reading the texts and replied to them. He placed the phone back down and closed his eyes with a sigh.

As the hours passed, Christine could tell something was wrong as Erik fussed in his sleep. It was like he was too hot and cold at the same time. At one point, Raoul used his 'angel' guardian abilities to influence Erik. Raoul came to stand by the bed on Erik's other side and placed his hand over his forehead. A few moments later, Erik's body relaxed, his body letting out a large breath through his nose, and he appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep.

"What did you use?" Christine asked, curious.

Raoul took his hand away from Erik. "Patience. It can sometimes bring about a sense of peace, depending on how I use it. I'm surprise you didn't already use sloth on him."

"If he gets too sick, I didn't want the sin to cause him to not be able to get help." Christine explained, reaching forward to stroke the air above Erik's face as she had often done when he was a child.

Raoul nodded in acceptance. "I think it's just a fever, he'll be fine once he gets some rest."

He sat down on the floor and the two of them stayed there to watch over their third in case he needed them again. As the sun dipped into the horizon and the sky got darker, Christine used sloth to keep Erik asleep. He wouldn't get better if he constantly woke up and she had used that particular sin enough times while Erik had been sick in the past to be confident in her ability. She hadn't used it until he was asleep because if he had been conscious, the sin might have influenced him in the way she had told Raoul. However, sleep was another matter. With Erik's mind lost in his dreams, Christine was able to directly focus on what she wanted the sin to do without having Erik's conscious there to changed it to fit its interpretation.

The evening arrived and Christine abruptly heard the apartment door begin to unlock. She looked up from a slumbering Erik and met Raoul's eyes. Raoul stood up and left the bedroom to go check who had entered.

"It's Nadir and Antoinette." Christine heard Raoul's voice call out from the living room.

Christine released her hold on Erik's mind and immediately Erik's eyelids began to twitch at the sound the two siblings were making in his apartment. Erik's golden eyes blinked opened and remained unfocused. He blinked again and noticed the noise outside his bedroom. With a squint of his eyes, Erik slowly sat up, pressing his hand to his forehead for a couple seconds.

Erik sighed and got up from his bed and made his way to outside. Christine followed him and saw that the two siblings were in the kitchen. Antoinette was searching through the cabinets while Nadir watched with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Erik asked. He stopped at the entrance and leaned against the frame.

"Well, since you didn't bother to answer our texts we decided to come check up on you. We figured you might not be feeling well." Nadir explained, turning his head to look back at Erik.

"And by the looks of things, we were right." Antoinette concluded. She had paused in her search and was scowling.

Erik sighed. "I'm fine. I have a small fever, I just need sleep."

Nadir snorted. "You look like you're going to fall over if it wasn't for that wall. Doesn't look like a small fever."

"What about Meg and Darius?" Erik countered.

"Rook's taking care of them." Nadir answered easily with a look that dared Erik to keep going.

"I can't believe you don't have chicken noddle soup." Antoinette grumbled. She opened a cabinet, peered inside it, and then closed it with a huff.

"I'm not hungry." Erik protested.

"You're eating whatever we are going to feed you." Antoinette scowled. "And you are going to like it."

Erik and Antoinette stared at each other, silently battling with their wills. Eventually, Erik was the one to break the eye contact, rolling his eyes with a sigh of irritation.

"Someday, I going to take away your key." Erik mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Antoinette chimed with a fake cheer that expressed that she had heard Erik.

"Nothing." Erik replied clearly.

Antoinette nodded once with a small smirk and went back to probing the kitchen in search of food.

Nadir came up to Erik and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Come on. You shouldn't be standing for very long."

"I think you two are exaggerating how sick I am." Erik objected, but allowed Nadir to steer him into the living room where he was placed on the couch.

"Erik, you feel like you're burning up and that was your arm." Nadir countered. He raised his finger to stop Erik from talking. "Stay there. I'll be right back."

Nadir left and came back with a thermometer in hand.

"Don't even start, open your mouth." Nadir ordered before Erik could say anything.

With a huff, Erik did as he was told. He grabbed the thermometer when Nadir placed it in his mouth and held it still. They waited for several moments, then it beeped. Erik pulled the thermometer out and looked at the reading.

"Yeah okay, maybe you're not exaggerating like I thought." Erik stated, suddenly sheepish.

He handed the thermometer to Nadir, who raised his eyebrow upon reading the temperature.

"103. Well, it's no hospital visit, but we got proof and you have to do as we say."

"And if I refuse?" Erik questioned.

Both of Nadir's eyebrow went up at that. "Do you really want to do this the hard way?"

"Sheesh, Nadir, I was playing." Erik answered softly and looked away.

"Nope, no time for playing." Antoinette declared as she came out of the kitchen with a steaming bowl in her hands. She forced the bowl into Erik's hands and patted his head, causing the younger to squint at her. "Eat."

The tone she had left no room for discussion. Erik ate the soul and tried to ignore the two pairs of eyes that were focused on him to make sure he finished everything. He did and Antoinette took the bowl back.

"Now, go change. I can't believe that you spent all this time in the same clothes. How was that comfortable to sleep in?"

Erik shrugged and grabbed Nadir's offered hand. Nadir pulled him up from the couch and let go. "You know how I get when I'm sick. I become a heavy sleeper."

"I know that's the truth." Nadir confirmed. "You are completely lost to the world. An earthquake wouldn't wake you."

"I wouldn't go that far." Erik disagreed.

While Antoinette went to clean up the kitchen, Nadir helped Erik get back to his room, where he was able to change into his pajamas. This is usually the time concerned family members would leave their sick relative to rest, but the trio were different than other families.

Erik was settled in the middle of his bed and Nadir and Antoinette laid on either side of him. They gave Erik enough room to not feel suffocated between them, but close enough to bring comfort.

"Erik?" Antoinette whispered.

Erik hummed but didn't open his eyes.

"How are things going with the couple?" she asked.

Erik's golden eyes peeked through his eyelids as he looked at his sister. "What? Trying to take advantage of my weaken state?"

Antoinette gave an amused smirk. "No. I wish I had thought of that earlier. Maybe I'll do that next time."

When Erik gave another hum in reply she continued, "And no I'm not. I'm curious, you don't talk about them."

"I talk about them all the time." Erik countered calmly, closing his eyes again.

Nadir snorted. "It doesn't count when it's only about work."

"Fine." Erik conceded. "They are both lovely. There."

"While that is a high praise coming from you, you cannot expect us to be satisfied with that." Nadir stated.

Erik opened his eyes again to squint at the older man. "The two of you are _way_ too interested in this."

"Did you really think otherwise? I'm disappointed." Antoinette teased softly. "Now talk."

"I don't know what to say." Erik protested in a whisper. "They are lovely. Do I get flustered at their mere presence? No. Do constantly have them in my thoughts? No. Am I in love? Heck no."

"Ouch. I kind of wish that we weren't his guardians to have to hear this." Raoul stated playfully enough but Christine could hear the slightest bit of hurt in his tone.

She knew how he felt. Christine didn't think that Erik would fall for them easily, but it still hurt to have confirmation. As long as Erik didn't cut ties with them completely, she was willing to be patient.

"But…" Erik trailed off for a moment with a thoughtful expression. "The world does seem to be the tiniest bit brighter when they are around. They make me laugh and show such beautiful love towards each other and everyone around them. They do and say things that make me feel like they came into my life for a reason. In a way, they almost seem familiar, like there is something different between us. A connection of some sort, but I can't put it into better words."

"You might not be in love, but it sure sounds like you're falling." Antoinette suggested with a small grin.

"Maybe." Erik acknowledged. "I suppose, for now, I'm fine with that."

Christine knew that if she was in her solid form, her heart would have skipped a beat. Erik felt something for them, even if it wasn't love yet, it was more than she had hoped for at this point.

"That's enough." Nadir concluded. "No more questions, Antoinette, Erik needs to sleep."

Antoinette rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. The three siblings were soon all fast asleep. Christine and Raoul would spend the night watching over all three of them.

 **This was a chapter more for the siblings, but I hope everyone enjoyed it nonetheless. If you did, be sure to leave a review! They make me super happy.** **The fic is almost over. Just a few chapters left, wanted to give a heads up on that. Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. See ya next time!**


	15. Waiting

Waiting

Raoul paced up and down the short length he allowed himself, Christine sat on one of the chairs wiggling her hands and biting her lip. They were both scared at the moment, terrified in fact. Raoul looked up at the red light that seemed to mock him and then turned around to pace the other way. He knew that he looked up at the light every time he faced that way and that it was only making him more nervous, but he couldn't help it.

Erik's life was in danger and all Christine and Raoul could do was wait outside.

Raoul thought back once more of how the three of them ended up in the hospital.

 _Raoul walked comfortably next to Christine as they followed Erik home from his trip to the store. He had run out of milk and hadn't felt like waiting for the next trip. It was in the evening, as a result, the streets were only lite by the lamp posts. The store wasn't a far destination, Erik had taken a quick trip to a smaller shop because it was one item. More expensive, but people pay for convenience._

 _Erik was a couple streets away from turning onto his apartment's street when a man wearing dark clothes step out from the alley and pointed his gun at Erik, demanding his wallet._

 _Raoul stiffened and felt Christine do the same but he quickly grabbed her hand in case she tried to influence Erik._

" _This is not the place for wrath." He whispered to his partner. "The man has a gun, he can shoot Erik a lot faster than Erik could get to him."_

 _Christine nodded her agreement, but Raoul saw the scared expression on her face. Raoul walked up behind Erik and placed his hands on either side of Erik's head to influence him with patience. If there was any hope of Erik getting out of the situation unharmed, he would have to remain calm._

 _However, while Erik did remain calm, the other man didn't. He became more aggressive and panicked, rushing Erik as he moved to get his wallet. The man obviously wasn't a born killer but the fact that he was desperate enough to get a gun and try to mug someone in the first place made him dangerous._

 _Raoul would blame that for the reason why the man fired the gun._

 _When the wallet had come into his line of sight, the man immediately lunged for it. Erik was startled by the movement and made to lean back but the man grabbed the wallet and pulled it and Erik forward. They collided and almost fell but the man regained his balance._

 _Raoul heard a loud bang and his world froze. He heard Christine's alarmed cry. As if watching a movie, Raoul watched the man's eyes widen in fear and jerk away from Erik. Erik, without support, instantly fell to his knees clutching his side, his bag falling out of his hand and crumbling on the ground next to him. The man slowly backed away before turning and running away completely._

" _Help!" Christine abruptly cried next to Raoul, bringing his mind back. "Help!"_

 _Christine ran to Erik's side and, to Raoul's surprise, grabbed Erik's head to bring it up._

" _You're fine! You're going to be alright!" Christine whispered fiercely to Erik, who was beginning to slouch forward. "Raoul!"_

 _His name being called snapped him to attention. Raoul immediately shifted into his solid form and went to them._

" _Lie him on the ground, I need to slow down the bleeding. Grab his phone and call 911." Raoul commanded._

 _Christine did as he said and took Erik's phone out of his pocket. She hurriedly opened it and dialed 911. Raoul kneeled next to a glassy eyed Erik, and pressed his hands tightly to the wound. Raoul flinched at the hiss of pain that Erik made, but didn't let up. His hands were covered in blood in a matter of seconds, dimly he could hear Christine talking on the phone, explaining the situation. Her voice was slightly hysterical but Raoul couldn't blame her, if he wasn't so focused on keeping pressure on the wound Raoul was sure he would be going into shock._

" _Help is on the way. You're going to be alright, Erik." Raoul told the man, who was looking up at the sky with glassy eyes._

 _Erik blinked and his eyes rolled to meet Raoul's. He gave him a dazed weak grin and Raoul wondered if Erik recognized him._

" _Aren't I always?" Erik whispered and then closed his eyes._

 _The statement made Raoul freeze. It brought up memories of Erik's first life that they were guardians over and a similar event happening. Erik had been stabbed in that life and the last thing he had said was something similar. Raoul had never thought he could hate a sentence, but the loathing and fear of that question caused Raoul to panic._

 _He pressed harder on the wound that he could barely see because of the tears that were clouding his vision._

" _You will not die. You will not die." Raoul repeated like a mantra. He continued to chant that sentence until the ambulance had arrived._

Raoul looked up as he turned around and once again saw the red light on. With an irritated sigh, he turned around to pace the other way.

Why did this have to happen? Things were going so well! Three months had passed since Erik had gotten sick and admitted to his siblings that he might be falling for him and Christine. Not wanting to push, Raoul and Christine both held back and stepped up their game to win their third's affections. They became more affectionate verbally while pulling back on the physical touches. Not completely, but enough that Erik would take a notice to it. Raoul believed that it had worked because Erik began to slowly make movements towards them instead of waiting to gain it from them. Erik was not a physical person, they knew that, but for every touch he directed, a flare of warmth would rise in Raoul's chest. The other day when Christine was to leave for the night and had gone to kiss Erik goodnight on his cheek, he had turned his head and their lips had met instead.

Christine had been surprised but she practically melted into the kiss that lasted for a couple seconds. Erik pulled back first, his cheeks a charming pink, and bid Christine a good night. Christine had a silly grin on her lips when she walked back and shifted into her ghost form. Raoul had been extremely jealous. He wasn't angry at either of them, and knew that he shouldn't have been surprise as he had been. Christine was the softer one of them and, knowing Erik, he would feel more comfortable kissing her first before feeling comfortable with Raoul.

Raoul hoped that Erik would get the chance to grow into that comfort to kiss him someday.

Raoul heard the door to the hallway they were in open and turned to see a distraught Antoinette and Nadir.

Christine stood up from her chair and went to Antoinette, wrapping her arms around the older woman. Antoinette clung to her and Raoul noticed that her shoulders were trembling. Christine whispered words of comfort and brought Antoinette to one of the chairs. Antoinette slumped down and Christine kneeled next to her, keeping hold of her hand in both of hers.

"Any word?" Nadir asked Raoul as he came to stand by him.

Raoul shook his head and pointed back at that damn red light. "He's in surgery. We won't know anything until they are done."

Nadir nodded grimly and stared at the red light as if willing it to turn off so that they can get news.

"The two of you found him?" Antoinette asked her voice shaky. She glanced up at Raoul and saw the blood that covered parts of his clothing and quickly looked back down now pale.

"Yes," Christine answered, she squeezed Antoinette's hand. "We were walking back to our place and saw Erik. We were going to say hi when the man came out. We were too far away to stop it and the man ran off. We are so sorry."

Christine finished her sentence with a crack in her voice, her eyes started to water again. Raoul knew that their story was a lie, but the apology wasn't. Antoinette and Nadir were the closet people in Erik's lives, they were more than friends. They were family. Allowing Erik to come to harm made Raoul feel like he's failed them as much as Erik and he knew that Christine felt the same.

"I doubt Erik would have wanted the two of you to get hurt by trying to get involved." Nadir replied softly. "You stayed and helped where you could. It's because of you that we are waiting in the hospital instead of receiving a policeman at our doorstep."

Nadir waited until Christine looked up to meet his eyes before he turned to Raoul. "Thank you, even if Erik doesn't live, thank you."

Raoul felt his breath hitch and his eyes water. He glanced down, not being able to look Nadir in the eye anymore. He pressed his hand to his eyes and felt tears escaping.

"Please don't thank us. Please don't mention Erik's death." He whispered brokenly.

There was a pause in the room.

"You…" Antoinette started slowly. "You two truly love Erik."

Raoul snorted slightly from behind his hand but nodded to confirm. How could there be any doubt?

"Since the first time we met him." Christine admitted. "We've waited for him a long time."

"Long time? The three of you have known each other for less than a year." Nadir countered gently.

Raoul lifted his head from his hand. "Maybe, but considering that we've had feelings for him this entire time, we've waited for him to be open to us before going after him."

They had waited a lot longer then what they were admitting but they could not exactly say that they had been by Erik's side his entire life.

"Then you have our blessing." Antoinette declared. Raoul blinked in surprise and Christine lifted her head to stare at Antoinette with wide eyes.

"You mean…"

"That doesn't mean the threat isn't still valid." Nadir pointed out firmly. "Just…we accept your presence in Erik's life. No more intimidation tactics, I think you deserve that much."

"Thank you." Christine gasped with a tender grin on her lips as her eyes watered for an entirely different reason.

Antoinette grinned and squeezed her hand.

Raoul saw Nadir's eyes widen at something behind him and turned to see what he saw. Raoul knew that his own eyes were probably wide at the sight of the red light being off. A part of him wondered if the light signaled good or bad news. Raoul hoped that it was good since Raoul and Christine had not been sent back to Purgatory yet as it often did shortly after Erik's death.

The door opened and a tired old doctor walked out. She looked up and caught sight of the four of them.

"Are you for Erik?" she asked and they all nodded. She gave a tired grin and instantly Raoul felt relief before she spoke. "He's stable, he's going to be fine."

Raoul hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath until it came rushing out of him. He swayed a little and felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced to the side and saw a grinning Nadir.

"He's going to be alright." Nadir stated in relief then turned to Antoinette and Christine. "He's going to be alright!"

Raoul could hear the excitement in Antoinette and Christine's voices behind him. Raoul made his way to the doctor and took her hand in both of his.

"Thank you." He whispered, not able to speak any louder.

The doctor grinned in understanding. "He was a stubborn one, I would say that he did most of the work for us by fighting."

Raoul chuckled weakly and nodded. "That does sound like him."

"When can we see him?" Antoinette asked, standing with Christine next to her.

"Right now he is sleeping. We're going to take him to a room where he can rest peacefully. As long as you don't try to wake him up, you can visit. Two person limit." The doctor stated the last part with reluctance but Raoul nodded.

"That's alright." He told her. He looked behind him at Nadir and Antoinette. "His family will go to him first. Christine and I will wait."

The doctor nodded and gestured for Nadir and Antoinette to follow her. As they passed, they sent Raoul a grateful look and went behind the doors. When they were gone, Raoul continued to stare at the closed door until he felt Christine come up next to him. She wrapped her arm around his waist and he instantly put his arm around her shoulder. Christine leaned into him with her head resting on his shoulder.

"He's going to be okay." She whispered in happy relief.

"Yeah…now I get to complain about him almost dying before he kissed me. How unfair that would've been?" Raoul replied and then chuckled when Christine smacked his stomach lightly in response.

 **There we go! Hope that gave you an emotional roller coaster! Just a little? Either way, out of curiosity, anyone recognize the "Aren't I always?" line? It's okay if you didn't since it was back in Part One, but hopefully I have someone that did. : ) Next chapter is the last chapter before the epilogue so we're almost done. And it'll be in Raoul's POV again. Leave a review! See ya next time!**


	16. Mission Completed

Mission Completed

Nadir and Antoinette were in Erik's room for half an hour before they came out. They told them that they planned to always have one or the other here at the hospital in case Erik woke up and wondered if Raoul and Christine would like to be part of the shifts. Raoul and Christine immediately agreed. Nadir told them that he and Antoinette were going to go back to their places to clean up and grab a few things. In half an hour, Antoinette would be returning. After that, Antoinette suggested that they use her time to clean themselves up as well, especially Raoul who was wearing clothes with Erik's dried blood.

Raoul agreed and the two siblings left. He followed Christine into Erik's room and felt a flash of guilt at the sight of a hooked up Erik. He had a bunch of wires attached to him and had a breathing mask on his face. Yet Raoul was grateful for the heart monitor, the steady beeping was both annoying and relieving to hear.

Raoul sat in one chair next to the bed and Christine sat in the other across from him. Erik looked small with everything hooked up to him which was saying something since he was the biggest out of the three of them. Raoul and Christine sat there in silence, watching their third breathe through the oxygen mask.

It was three days before Erik woke up, Raoul and Christine never left the hospital. They had to make a show of leaving when Antoinette or Nadir came. They would walk out of the room and go inside a restroom where they could shift into their ghost forms before returning to Erik's side. Nadir had sent out an email to all of the parents who had kids in Erik's daycare and music school. By the end of the second day, Erik's room was filled with not only flowers, but cards and drawings the kids made as well. Raoul found it heartwarming to see how many people cared about Erik's wellbeing.

Christine had gotten concerned when Erik hadn't woken up by the second night, but the doctor reassured her that everything was fine.

"He's not in a coma or anything, just in a deep sleep to rest. He'll wake up when his body wants to." She explained with a kind grin.

Christine would spend majority of the time, both in solid and ghost form, singing a variety of different songs. She had learned of lot of them through Erik's past lives therefore had no small supply of what she sung. Sometimes Raoul joined her, most of the time he didn't. He would sit quietly next to Erik and play with Erik's limp hand as if he could wake Erik up by moving it. He couldn't do that in his ghost form, instead he would stroke the air above Erik's hand and arm, feeling the tip of his fingers tingle as they came into contact with Erik's energy.

The morning of the third day, the doctor told them that Erik no longer needed some of the attachments and the nurses came in and took everything that wasn't the basic monitor equipment.

That afternoon, it was Antoinette's turn to watch Erik when Erik's breathing abruptly changed. The heart monitor also began to get faster and Antoinette looked up from her book in concern. She stood up and glanced at the monitor, obviously wondering if she should call someone.

However, the decision was made for her when Erik's eyelids twitched and slowly opened, revealing blurry gold eyes.

Raoul sighed in relief and Christine smiled excitedly. They watched Antoinette gasped softly and place her hand on Erik's.

"Erik? Can you hear me?" Antoinette whispered softly.

Erik blinked unsurely, eyes rolling from side to side in confusion. Raoul could hear the heart monitor beep faster.

"Erik. Calm down. It's Antoinette, you're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" Antoinette commanded.

Erik zeroed in on her voice and stared right at her. When their eyes met, Erik immediately relaxed, though he kept the puzzled frown. He started to talk but then noticed the oxygen mask. He reached up and pulled it up and over his head.

"I don't think you're supposed to make the decision to take it off." Antoinette stated lightly.

Erik shrugged. "Too late."

Erik's voice was hoarse from not speaking for a few days, but Raoul thought it actually sounded kind of hot…

"Let me get you some water for your throat." Antoinette stated and patted Erik's hand.

She went over to the bed table where a pitcher was and poured some water into a plastic cup. She placed the cup on the desk and helped Erik sit up. Erik cringed at the movement but didn't seem to be in too much pain. Antoinette handed the cup to Erik who took it and began to take small sips of it. She pulled out her phone and sent a text, probably to Nadir to let him know that Erik was awake.

"What are all those from?" Erik asked, his voice rough but not as bad as before. When Antoinette turned to him, he pointed towards all the flowers and drawings.

Antoinette smiled. "You caused quite the uproar. Your kids and students wanted to show you how much they loved you."

"That's an awful lot, how long was I out?" Erik asked.

"This is the third day." Antoinette informed him. Erik startled in shock and she continued. "Do you remember what had happened?"

"I remember…" Erik began, turning away from Antoinette with a thoughtful expression. "Yes, I was shot, wasn't I?"

"Yep, luckily the bullet didn't hit anything important but you will be sore for a while." Antoinette explained.

Erik frowned, he had finished the water and was resting it in his lap. "How did I get here? I could swear that I remember seeing Mr. Lebeau and Miss Destler but…"

"Oh, you did. They were the ones that found you and called the ambulance." Antoinette responded. She paused as she observed Erik who was staring down at his cup.

"Erik…" Antoinette hesitated for a second then took on a determined expression. "They really love you, you know. You should have seen them that first night, they looked like their entire world was shattered."

Erik's head jerked up, his eyes wide. "I—"

"Don't think I'm trying to push their feelings on you, you're my priority." Antoinette cut off firmly, but then her face softened. "But, I think you should let yourself be with them. I know that things have been going well, but I also know you, Erik, and you're holding back to protect yourself from getting hurt."

Erik remained quiet, neither confirming nor denying his sister's accusations.

"Listen, you can take what I said and believe what you want." Antoinette concluded. "All I know is that there are people who would give anything to have what is being offered to you, heck, I wish Daniel looked at me with half the love the two of them look you. I would hate to see you lose that because of something that you know they already accept."

Erik's appearance remained puzzled and he opened his mouth to speak, but the door burst opened and a breathless Nadir came through. At the sight of Erik sitting up, Nadir slumped in relief. He quickly came to the bed and grabbed Erik's head before he leaned down to press his forehead against Erik's.

"You are not allowed to do that again." Nadir stated firmly.

From the angle and because of Nadir's hand, Raoul couldn't see Erik's expression but had an idea when Erik spoke.

"I didn't exactly do it on purpose." Erik replied dryly.

Nadir straighten and slapped Erik's face lightly. Erik broke away with a protest but Nadir didn't let him go. Instead, the older man leaned forward and hugged Erik.

"We're glad you're okay." Nadir whispered softly enough that Raoul almost didn't hear the man.

Erik's eyes widen but soon softened and hug his older brother back. They stayed like that for a few moments, before Nadir pulled back, wiping his eyes.

"Now," Nadir started, back to his old gruff self. "Let's get a nurse in to look at you."

A nurse and the doctor came and explained to Erik his wounds and all the things that needed to happen for him to recover. They wanted him to stay for one more night; Erik had protested at first, but Antoinette and Nadir gave them their consent.

"Knock him out if you have to." Antoinette had suggested, to which got a scowl from Erik.

Antoinette and Nadir left soon after all that was settled, promising to come get him in the morning with the kids. Since Erik was told to get as much rest as possible, when his siblings left, he turned laid back down and went back to sleep.

"Should we…go to him? We hadn't visited since he's woken up." Christine asked.

Raoul shrugged. "Might as well. It's pretty late, but not late enough that visitors hours are over."

If he was honest with himself, Raoul would admit that he was nervous talking to Erik again after what happened. Especially since Antoinette had told him about how they acted while Erik had been asleep. He knew that Antoinette meant well, but that had not been cool.

Raoul followed Christine out into the hallway where they each went into the restrooms and shifted into their solid form. As they made their way back, Christine clasped her hand in his and sent him an encouraging grin that Raoul had to grin back at. Christine always knew what was going on in his mind.

Raoul was the one to knock on the door to Erik's room, but Christine was the one to open it and go inside first. Erik was lying on his injured free side that allowed him to face the door. Upon seeing them, Erik gained a small grin, though Raoul could tell he was practically half-asleep already.

"My two knights in shining armor have arrived." Erik whispered sleepily.

Raoul grinned at the sight. "I wouldn't say that."

Erik shrugged. "Apparently if it wasn't for you two, I might not have made it in the first place, thank you."

"Well when you put it like that...do continue." Raoul ordered with a grin.

Erik snorted and Christine huffed next to him. Raoul and Christine moved the seats until they were on the side that Erik was facing and sat down in them. Erik's eyes moved to Christine's hand and grinned.

"So that's where my ring got to. I was wondering where it went."

Christine's cheeks turned pink and glanced down at her left hand where Erik's ring was currently resting on her ring finger.

"They didn't want anything metal on you while you were in surgery and then later with all the machines—" Christine explained awkwardly.

"My dear, it's fine." Erik cut off. He looked at the ring and a dazed gleam came into his eyes before he blinked and it was gone. "It actually, strangely suits you."

Christine, also having noticed the weird look, smiled hesitantly. "I don't know whether to say that was a compliment, but thank you."

"Would you do me a favor then?" Erik inquired. "Would you wear it until I'm back on my feet again?"

Erik didn't seem to notice Raoul and Christine stiffen in their chairs and for that, Raoul was grateful. The moment Erik asked that question, the air seemed to thicken and Raoul had a hard time breathing as if a pressure was weighing on his lungs. It almost reminded Raoul of Erik in their life when he had requested that Christine wear his ring until his death after her rejection of him and only return it to him then. However, this time it was the opposite, Erik was asking Christine to wear it until he was healed…alive again some might say. Raoul knew in his heart that this moment, with a doubt was an important one and the moment was all on Christine's decision.

Raoul turned to Christine and saw her smiling and knew instantly what she was going to do.

"Of course, I'll wear it." Christine answered. She took on a playful look. "Though, we'll have to see if I'll be willing to give it back after. It's a nice ring."

The air around them immediately lifted and Raoul knew that something broken, that they hadn't even been aware of, had been mended.

Erik, who didn't look like he experienced any of the awkward air that had covered Raoul and Christine, snorted.

"Yeah, I'm not worried. Antoinette would have your heads if something were to happen to that ring because of you."

Raoul sweat-dropped and felt the need to change the subject.

"Well, I'm glad you survived." Raoul stated cheerfully. "I would have been pretty mad if you had died without kissing me, especially since you already kiss Christine."

"Oh my gosh, Raoul!" He heard Christine huffed with an exaggerated sigh while Erik chuckled.

"Yes, that would have been tragic." Erik replied sarcastically.

Raoul ignored the tone and nodded seriously. "As long as you know that."

Erik snickered then closed his eyes.

"We should probably let you get back to sleep, huh?" Christine offered.

Erik hummed and his eyes remained closed. "Yes, probably."

"We'll be going then. See you tomorrow, Erik." Christine whispered to him, gently since Erik was obviously dozing off.

"Goodnight you two." Erik replied softly.

Raoul and Christine stood up from their chairs and headed towards the door. Thinking of an idea, Raoul stopped Christine as she opened the door. She turned to Raoul with furrowed eyebrows. Raoul leaned forward and whispered his idea to her and when he pulled back, she was grinning. She nodded her consent and they turned back around. Raoul called Erik's name.

They waited until Erik opened his eyes again to look at them.

"Erik, we love you." Raoul and Christine sang softly in a familiar harmony with twin smiles.

Erik's hand came up and covered his face as he chuckled.

"Ah, you two are silly." Erik whispered, almost to himself as his hand fell away. His eyelids were falling as sleep grabbed a hold of him. "I supposed that one of the reason why I fell in love with you…"

Raoul took in a sharp breath and heard Christine do the same next to her. Raoul wanted to go to Erik and demand that he repeat what he said, but Erik was already breathing heavily, telling him that he was asleep.

Christine was the one who eventually left the room, pulling Raoul behind her. As they walked back to the restrooms to shift into their ghost forms, they remained silent, yet the pounding in Raoul's chest certainly seemed loud. They broke away and Raoul entered the men's room and tried to shift back into his ghost form.

However, nothing happened.

Raoul frowned as he felt his heart continued to beat and tried again. Again nothing worked.

Confused, Raoul went back outside and found a bewildered Christine already waiting for him.

"I can't shift back. Can you?" Christine asked when she saw him.

Raoul shook his head.

"You will no longer be able to shift. You are human again." A deep gravelly voice stated behind Raoul.

Raoul jumped and turned around to see a man in his mid-thirties dressed in a suit and trench coat. The man was about Erik's height and had black hair and the most intense blue eyes Raoul has ever seen.

"Who are you?" Raoul asked, Christine beside him.

The man rolled his eyes. "I take on a new vessel and suddenly the two of you don't recognize me? I know it's been a few decades, but this is kind of ridiculous."

"Wait a moment." Christine paused. "Castiel?"

The man nodded and Raoul blinked.

"You're not a women anymore?" he stated dumbly.

"My appearance before was like that because that was my vessel at the time." Castiel clarified. "I needed a new one and this one is male. Angel's themselves don't have genders."

"Oh…" Raoul trailed off then thought about what Castiel had said before. "What do you mean we're human again?"

"Just that. You've completed the mission so the two of you were relieved of your guardian duties." Castiel explained. He smirked softly. "I'm relieved that the three of you can finally be together."

"But, we don't exist" Christine protested sounding a little frightened. "We can't suddenly turn up in the world without a background or history!"

"That is already taken care of." Castiel shrugged. "Angels have the ability to alter reality to a certain extent, it wasn't that hard. Here."

Castiel suddenly reached forward and touched both of their foreheads. Abruptly, a bunch of information was slammed into Raoul's mind, memories of a false life but something that would be real to everyone else.

"You made us millionaires?" Christine choked.

"My own personal touch, the two of you had grown on me." Castiel stated almost monotony. "Besides, this way you can take care of your third more easily, I've heard that hospital bills are expensive."

Raoul snorted a little hysterical. "Erik wouldn't accept that. He's too stubborn."

Castiel shrugged again. "That's not my problem. I need to be going."

"Wait!" Christine almost exclaimed. "What's going to happen now?"

Castiel paused and stared at them. "Now, the two of you are going to get to spend the rest of your natural life with your third. When the three of you die, you'll be able to enter heaven as one because of it. The mission is over."

"One last question, if you don't mind me asking." Raoul joined in. "What was the mission?"

"To make you third fall in love with both of you and have him admit it." Castiel announced. "Goodbye, you two. I'll make sure I personally escort your souls to heaven when the time comes."

With that, Castiel blinked out of existence.

 **And there it is! Don't worry, there's still an epilogue chapter but this is the last of the main story. Tell me what you thought about it in a review! Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time! Next chapter will be in Christine's POV.**


	17. Epilogue

Epilogue

 _The following October, a week before Halloween…_

"Come on, Erik! Let me see how you look!" Christine called from the living room as she messed with her fairy wings that were part of her costume.

"I'm not sure I want to!" she heard Erik's voice replied through the bedroom door.

Months had passed since Erik had been shot and Raoul and Christine accidently completed their mission. The three of them were sharing a larger apartment closer to Erik's daycare and school. Erik had reluctant at first but it wasn't that hard to persuade him, Christine was positive that Antoinette and Nadir probably had a hand in it. After Erik had told them that he may have confess that he was in love with them, the older siblings had gone nuts in happiness. Antoinette had been happier because apparently she had won the bet.

"You still had a bet going on?!" Erik had asked scandalized.

"Well, yeah! We had to change it after the two had declared their intentions to both be with you. We decided to bet on when you were going to admit you loved them back." Antoinette explained gleefully as she took the money owed to her from Nadir.

"I think it shouldn't count anymore." Nadir grumbled. "Erik had a near death experience and it probably made him more open to things."

"I hate you so much!" Erik exclaimed, putting his head in his hands.

"No you don't!" The older siblings replied instantly with twin grins.

The only reason Christine and Raoul knew about this was because Erik had told them about it and that was because Meg let it slip while everyone had been visiting Erik in his apartment after he returned from the hospital.

Christine had to admit that she missed some parts of being Erik's guardian. The biggest thing was that she was no longer able to be by Erik's side all the time. It had been weird at first, having to leave and not be able to come back until an appropriate time. She had no idea what to do with herself the first few days. For almost a century, her entire focus had been on being by Erik's side and helping him where she could and suddenly she couldn't do that anymore. Plus she would no longer be able to influence him. Sure she had been the 'demon' guardian and had possession over the sins but there were times that she was able to use them for good. She also missed her ability to shift into her ghost form. It had been convenient being able to walk through things and not feel the weather around her. It had been a lot to process. Luckily, she had Raoul with her, who was going through the same thing, and together they came to terms with it and agreed that just because they could no longer be with Erik 24/7, it didn't mean that they couldn't try to make the most of what time they did have.

Once their minds were at peace towards that, Christine and Raoul got their new lives together. Castiel had been extremely kind to them by making sure that they would not have to worry about money. The information that the angel had given them about their lives also made sure they knew how to handle it smartly. It took about a week for Erik to be healthy enough to open the daycare and his school back up, Ayesha had certainly given Erik a long lecture when he had returned. Good thing Antoinette and Nadir had taken care of the cat while Erik couldn't. Christine and Raoul used that week to settle in. They had to buy a lot of things that they had never needed before, but that was fine, they got the bare necessities of what wasn't already provided for them. By the time Erik opened his businesses back up, they were all set.

They continued to work under Erik at his daycare and school, the guarantee hours with Erik was something that they hadn't wanted to give up. However, they did start looking into things that could fill in their time away. Raoul had taking an interest in their finances and investments. Christine hadn't been surprise. Raoul was good with money and would make sure that they always had a decent amount. Christine had taken a liking to arts and crafts. She had discovered that the closet library had started to offer sewing classes for a small price and she had purchased her spot almost instantly. It had soon become her favorite past time when she wasn't with Erik and Raoul, other than singing of course. She had been taking the class for several months and was confident in her ability to make everyone's Halloween costumes. Which Christine was presently trying to get Erik to show her the costume she had made for him.

Christine rolled her eyes but put her wings down. "Don't make me call Antoinette, she'll drag you out of there."

"I don't like how you're using _my_ sister to threaten me." Erik's voice replied, but there was amusement in his tone.

"Just come out, I need to make sure everything fits right. There's only one more week before Halloween." Christine ordered.

There was a pause behind the bedroom door, but then it slowly opened. Christine kept her back to it so that Erik could come out in his own time.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I hate suits." Erik complained behind her close enough that she knew he was in the dining room with her.

Christine smirked at the reply and turned around. As she saw Erik dressed in his costume, her breath caught in her throat.

Oh…

Erik frowned, taking her reaction as a bad one. He took off his hat and poked at the white mask that covered majority of his face.

"Is it that terrible? I told you I wouldn't look good in a suit."

Christine didn't say anything. She didn't know if she could at that moment because her mouth had gone dry.

Erik stood a few feet from her dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt that was covered with a Victorian looking coat that had a penguin tail. He had black gloves and a black cape that almost went down to the floor and was currently holding the black hat in his hands. The white mask fit over his face like it was made for him, covering everything except his eyes and below his cheeks.

He looked exactly like the Erik in their first life except this time, the racing of Christine's heartbeat was caused by the exact opposite of fear.

Without saying a word, she went to him. Erik blinked in surprise by whatever must have been her expression but she didn't give him time to move. She took his face in her hands, careful to not mess with the mask, and brought his head down.

They lips met and Christine immediately melted, leaning her weight toward Erik while pulling his head closer. It took a second for Erik to respond, but when he did pressed his lips to hers but did not touch her.

That was fine, Christine already knew that Erik was not much of a physical person. Since they had official started dating, Raoul and Christine had been more physically affection towards Erik and while he doesn't not initiate contact as often, he always responded and that was something Christine would always love. The fact that Erik allowed them to do such things was major in Christine's opinion, she knew personally how much Erik didn't care for such things. And she could admit to herself that she sort of took advantage of that by kissing him often.

Eventually, Erik was the one to pull away first. Christine almost followed after him, but was able to stay put in time.

"Christine…" Erik began softly.

Christine had to hold back the shudder at the sound of her name on Erik's lips. Instead she hummed in question, moving her hands to rest on his shoulders.

"Do you have a mask fetish?" Erik questioned, his golden eyes serious.

Christine felt her cheeks warm up and took a couple steps away from him to cross her arms over her chest.

"Of course not!" Christine huffed.

Even with the mask covering the majority of Erik's face, she knew that he was raising his eyebrow at her.

"That was quite the reaction for someone who claims not to have one." Erik countered.

"Well, if I do, it'll only be towards you." Christine answered with a roll of her eyes.

"Should I consider that as an insult? That you enjoy my face hidden behind a mask?" Erik replied.

Christine opened her mouth to protest but noticed the smirk growing on Erik's lips and turned away with another eye roll. "It suits you. That's all."

"Apparently, rather well." Erik teased, causing Christine to feel another wave of heat on her cheeks. He poked at the rim of the mask. "What made you decide to make my costume the phantom of the opera?"

"It's your favorite musical and he's your favorite character." Christine explained. She didn't tell him that another reason was that she had wanted to see him as he used to be again, if only for a night.

"Yes, but the mask isn't what is used." Erik opposed as he pulled off said mask.

Christine shrugged. "It wasn't accurate to the original book either."

Christine had been curious one time and had checked out the original book that the musical was based on. It was exaggerated in a lot of places but she couldn't fault the writer for that since it had been written to be a horror novel. He also did not have all the facts but again how could he have? He hadn't been there and the work was considered a fiction, and for that Christine was grateful.

"Doesn't the story have the phantom wearing a full mask?" Erik asked then pressed the mask back on his face, displaying the fact that it didn't cover his face.

With a grin, Christine raised her hand and touched Erik's uncovered chin.

"Like I would ever be able to cover those gorgeous lips." She remarked lightly.

Erik turned away and placed the mask down. Christine saw the hint of pink flushing his cheeks and her grin widened. The real reason why she had made the mask that way was because that was the way Erik's mask had truly been in their first lives.

"Can you put the mask back on? I want to make sure it fits right." Christine asked.

Erik shrugged but placed the mask back on easily, the onyx ring on his left pinkie shining in the light.

Christine went back to him and examined the mask carefully. It seemed to fit comfortably enough and Erik told her that, while strange to wear, it felt fine. Christine continued her examination of the rest of his costume, poking and prodding him as she asked questions to which Erik answered with an entertained tone.

She was inspecting the cape when she heard the apartment door open and Raoul calling their names.

"In the dining room!" She yelled out to him and heard the footsteps coming towards them.

"Hey, what are you doing in—AHH!"

Christine jerked up, seeing Erik react the same way at the sound of Raoul's scream. Erik faced Raoul and she popped her head from behind him to see Raoul. Raoul was currently leaning back against the wall with wide eyes and pale skin.

"The heck Raoul?" Christine questioned with a concern frown.

Raoul blinked and then let out a shaky chuckle. "I'm fine. Sorry about that."

"Are you okay?" Erik asked with a frown as well.

Raoul straightened and waved his hand dismissingly, yet he wasn't looking at them. "Yeah, just…had a bad experience with a person in a mask one time. I was taken off guard, that's all."

Opps, Christine thought. She hadn't thought about how Raoul would react to seeing Erik the way he was in their first life when he had been actively trying to kill Raoul.

Erik took off his mask, eyes glowing with concern under his furrowed brows. "Are you sure you're alright? I will not wear this if it brings back bad memories."

Raoul's head turned back to them and he had a small grin. "Nah, it's okay. Like I said, it caught me off guard, I'll be fine."

"If you say so." Erik replied unsure.

Raoul grinned and walked to Erik. He took the mask from his hand and placed it back on. Once it was on, Raoul leaned up and gave Erik a sweet peck on his lips before pulling back.

"Its fine, Erik. Now that I'm taking another look, you actually look quite dashing in it."

"Great, I got both of you having a mask fetish." Erik deadpanned.

At Raoul's puzzled look, Christine couldn't help but laugh.

The three of them were all together, after decades of unsuccessfully trying to figure out how things were supposed to work. It had been a long road for Christine and she knew that it had been a harder road for Raoul, but they had done it. They could finally be with Erik the way they should have been in their first lives. Maybe sometimes Christine regretted her actions in that life a little, but she couldn't regret how things ended up in what would be their last life.

At the beginning, Christine hadn't thought that her life could've felt more whole then her life with Raoul. However, she knew that this was what happiness truly was, and she was going to hold onto it with all her might.

 **DONE! That was it everyone! Now I'm a little sad, but all things must come to an end. To be honest, one of the main reasons I wrote this entire thing was just so that I could write this Halloween scene with Erik dressing as his old self. Crazy I know, but it was worth it. :) I hope everyone enjoyed the fic and thank all who stuck with it through the whole thing. The story may be over but my readers are more than welcome to leave a review. Whether it's the day it's published, weeks, months or years after today, I'll read and love them. :) Thank you all and leave a review!**

 ***side note. I do have other works, but will be unable to publish them because I'll be unavailable the next few months. I wouldn't want to publish anything that I would suddenly disappear on. But at least this note lets you know I'll be back someday. And I hope to see my readers then. Until then, enjoy my other works and leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter and stories. See ya next time!**


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